New and interesting

"Home again, home again... something, something..."

I've been busy with werk for the museum. We're putting together a presentation to give to University of Wollongong marketing students so they can develop a, well, marketing plan. I have so many ideas for it, but it's not my job, it's theirs. How much info to give them?

I've created a slide-show to give them an idea of the museum and two team leaders will be given a tour... I'll muddle on, I suppose; it's taking me away from editing, which, I have to say, I resent. Just a little. I fear it shall be me to make the actual presentation, since I have a media background, but public speaking stresses me out to near speechlessness. I can only hope the lights hide the audience.

* * *

While in Canberra, my brother-in-law set up his six-inch mirror telescope to peer at the heavens with. It was definitely a 'wow' moment; up close and personal with the craters of the moon, the clear lines between shadow and light, with the slight shimmer of Earth's atmosphere. And Saturn. OMG! Sure, it was a white dot with a line through it, but I've never seen it with my own beady eye. It was all to easy to see why the night sky inspires so many people.

He says he might be able to lay hands on a twelve-inch mirror telescope and if he does, I'm taking photos!

* * *

I've also been catching up with the family tree. Another cousin X-times removed has sent me buckets of info from a side we, here in Aus, know little about.

And I have a couple of DVDs to watch, new books to dive into and a trilogy to edit...

So many things to do, so little time.

Up there, out there

Well, we're all still here, regardless of the doomsayers might want. There's no sign of the Blue-tongues, though - maybe the rough weather has them hiding out.

No photos either; the clouds obscured the sky and I couldn't find the tripod - no surprise there, that's what safe places are for.

I'm into the final edits of Demonesque, and yes, I've been doing this for a while, picking and poking and re-writing and... so on. Who knew I had so many '-ly' words to sort out. How many?

When I did a search and colour change, two and a half thousand. I thought I'd sorted it, but obviously not. Those adverbs are so easy, loitering about sentences, demanding payment for services rendered, the sluts.

I'm pleased at the lack of passives though, I think I've scared the off. Being non-confrontational, they cower at the sight of action. So. I'm nearly done.

So close, that I'm looking at sending stuff off to an agent next week. And since I've just said that in the public domain, I'll have to follow through. No wussing out. My expectations? Ahm... I'm sticking my fingers in my ears and I'm not listening! And you can't make me! La-la-la-la...

The work will be out, released into the wild to survive or not on its own. Sad, yes, exciting, absolutely.

Apocalypse... Now?

Not really, but tonight TU24, an asteroid discovered in 2007, will pass close to Earth. As close as 537,000kms in fact. Might not sound close at all, but it's considered a 'near-miss'. At 250 metres in diameter, it's a big chunk'a rock.

Better yet, it should be observable in the night sky, with a telescope - at least here - at about 7.30pm, which makes it around dusk. Where is it? Go here for a look at which constellations TU 24 will move through and when.

Apparently, TU24 will affect the magnetosphere. What will happen? Well... anything from radio interference to cataclysmic events - according to some sites.

Me, I'm grabbing the camera and hoping the sky will clear of cloud - and I'll try to find my tripod which I put in a safe, but convenient place, but can't remember where that is.

***

It's alleged that animals go a little... odd... when 'events' are about to happen. Animals head to the hills before a tsunami, panic right before an earthquake and so on. Saxon, my dog, did nothing but snooze as I wrote the above.

I heard some rustling near the back door. I looked left, but didn't see anything immediate. Figured it was a bird pecking through the dead leaves for insects... Nup.

This is an Eastern Blue-Tongued Lizard (Tiliqua scincoides scincoides) - a rare treat to see even in the bush. Last week, while mowing the lawn, I saw a small one in the garden but too late to get the camera.

So far, this little dude has headed for the back door three times before retreating when it saw me. Did I mention how rare seeing one was? How about... two?

As you can see, the one on the left is a near baby; the one on the right has raised up to intimidate the younger one.

It's great to find them in the garden - uh... yeah, I don't do gardening very much - they eat snails and slugs and ants other insects and berries. (The backyard is a veritable feast for them, plenty for all, so there's no need for bitching.)

And when the little one made a dash for the undergrowth, I lowered my camera and turned:
Yep. A third Eastern Blue Tongued Lizard, sitting on the freshly mown lawn - did it on Saturday.

The behaviour is odd: Blue tongues are mostly solitary creatures, only coming together to mate between September and November. But I figure the back yard is big enough for all three - I suppose there are probably more lurking in the undergrowth - but the habitat is just right for them and as long as they keep eating the snails and slugs and other insects, I'm happy to have them. Of course, I'll have to keep a watch when backing out and for the highly poisonous Eastern Brown Snake, for whom the lizard is lunch.

Animals behaving oddly? Yeah, but I'm not assuming the apocalypse is here just yet.