Hehehe... catching up on all the comics I haven't read in ages (more time! need more time!) and today's Get Fuzzy is an absolute doozy.

As the TW03 event draws ever closer, people have been asking me if I've prepared an acceptance speech, just in case. Sheesh - no pressure, or anything. ;) I reckon it won't be anything like that at all, but still, it can't hurt to have a few sentences strung together to the effect of: Thanks, y'all, but I couldn't have done it without my crew... Word up to my IT Wales homies! *chortle*

Gorgeous day today - beautiful sunshine and quite warm too. Now _this_ is summery weather, and I'd forgotten how fantastic Swansea can be when it's not pissing down with rain.

I'm so glad that I'm not alone in being a sentimental softie, easily moved to tears by good emotive advertising. :)

Kim Penstone of Marketing Web writes in her article Building the pride of a nation:
I was one of the few who wasn't convinced by the Alive with Possibility slogan. And, to be honest, I'm not overly pleased with the "I can. We can. South African" call to action. But I almost burst with pride when I saw (and heard) the first Brand South Africa campaign. In fact, I almost burst into tears. Aired for the first time last week, the TV spot was created by Net#work BBDO and produced by Peter Gird Productions. If you haven't seen it, stay indoors and camp in front of your TV (with a box of tissues). It's that good.

And yes, it is that good - I'm now so homesick I could cry.

Sheesh... I really am exhausted to the point of schlumping, irrevocably at that. I think it all began going bad on Sunday night, when I went along to UCI Parc Tawe to watch The Matrix Reloaded with some friends. I washed down far too many winegums with my Pepsi, and funnily enough, all that sugar did not agree with me. So halfway through the movie, I had to evacuate the winegums (argh) and then made it back to my seat just in time to enjoy a post-sugar high crash. Yes, that's right - I fell asleep during one of the most anticipated sequels of the year, because I can't hold my sugar. Saddo. :)

This is really good: AstroCappella 2.0

The AstroCappella lyrics and original songs were written, performed, and recorded by the Chromatics, a vocal band based in Greenbelt, Maryland. This group of techies (NASA Ph.D. scientists, engineers, computer geeks, and even an accountant) has been performing together as The Chromatics since 1995. The Chromatics perform pop and rock covers and original songs inspired by our modern world. The AstroCappella project was born when Padi Boyd and Alan Smale decided to combine their love of astronomy with their love of music and write a set of astronomically-correct a cappella songs to be used in classrooms. "AstroCappella 2.0" is the culmination of many years of effort in singing, songwriting, education, and public outreach.

In addition to being interesting, educational and kind of fun to bop along to, the song provoked the RIAA to do this.

Good God, my room is an absolute mess. I haven't been around for enough cumulative hours over the past week to do any tidying, and it's beginning to remind me of the time when I was about 12, when my mother and I had the most vehement disagreement ever about the state of my room. She had respected my privacy through increasingly gritted teeth, until the weekend when it became too much for her to bear, and she was ready to tie me up and do the clearing herself. I refused, we exchanged words, and boundaries were drawn then which have never since been crossed.

The silly thing is, even though I've been an untidy person for as long as I can remember, I hate clutter. I can't stand chaos, but I will tolerate it to the point when I have no choice but to attack the mess head on, and restore things to an almost unnatural state of order and tidiness. One day, I will find my balance. Until then, I remind myself of that moment from Six Degrees of Separation - chaos, control... chaos, control... you like? You like? :)

I took today off to go shopping for the big event next week (yes, really) and I found two very beautiful dresses. I wish I had sufficient knowledge of dressmaking to adequately describe them, but I don't, and I'm too tired to try very hard. ;) Suffice it to say, they're very different, but each has its charms, and the one I will be wearing to the event is something I'd never have chosen for myself. Jo, on the other had, would and did. She's got a good eye for these things.

The dress I chose is definitely more typical of my tastes (deep red, ankle length, fitted and flowing in all the right places, and quite understated on the whole) while the dress she chose is actually perfect for what I'd originally had in mind - which is, something to match a very special iridescent blue bangle I will be wearing on the night. I find it somewhat surreal to be spending so much time and thought in co-ordinating an ensemble around an accessory, but hey - I'm a sucker for sentimentality, and the bangle really is very special. ;) The second dress is a floaty, fluttery asymmetrical creation in a melange of greens, blues and white, and is very, very pretty. I'm planning to have my hair braided for the occasion, and I'm really looking forward to it - my fringe is about to get very annoying, and this will help.

Aside: I've found out that the other person shortlisted for this award is from BBC Wales - no pressure. ;) In one of those interesting coming together of strands in otherwise unrelated lives, she's involved in Capture Wales, which I wrote about in an ITWeb column around this time last year.

And speaking of which, I recently reread some of my older columns, and I'm shocked, nay, horrified, to realise how much like a person with a carrot up their arse I sounded at the time! :) I haven't fully deconstructed the ways in which I've changed since then, but in the meantime, thank the gods for growth and change, and all those happy hippie things. :)

W00t! Archives are now functional, if less than purty. I'll be working on that, then. Soon. Ish. ;-)

I've been flipping through my journals (I've kept a record of my life, off and on, since I was 12) and a couple of phrases seemed to pop up quite often - such as: Gosh, it has been a while, or Wow, so much has happened since I last wrote, and other such murmurings to express my eternal surprise at how quickly time flies, and sneaky it can be too.

I'm feeling very contemplative and calm - due in part to the full moon which is at this moment lighting up a crystal clear night sky, and reflecting off Swansea Bay so brightly that a section of the water appears to be have been turned into a sheet of pure silver. Stunning, stunning. I've taken some pics of it (both with my new cellphone and my trusty old Nikon) and I'm really keen to see how those taken with the latter turn out.

The new cellphone is the Nokia 7250, which I picked up today at a business exhibition in Cardiff. That was pretty much the highlight of the day - the exhibition was dire. No words can describe how boring, how dismally attended, how much of a waste of time it was... but those of you familiar with Computer Faire might be able to imagine the agony I was subjected to between the hours of 10 and 4:30 today. Yup - today was my first experience of stand duty at a trade show, and it sucked piles.

Carol and I were exhausted by day's end, but the Universe decided we were tough enough to take a flat tyre on top of the rest of the punishments it had visited on us throughout the day. Thankfully, the AA came to the rescue (it was a hire car, so we didn't really care about the piece of metal that appeared to be the cause of the puncture, but it was nice of the AA guy to proffer it for inspection), and we made it back to Swansea in one piece, but mighty tired.

I've been winding down since then, but I've managed to do some productive things, such as put up the print of Salvador Dali's 1937 Untitled (Female figure with head of flowers) I recently bought to brighten up my room, which is a very uninspiring beige/brown combo at the moment.

The other thing keeping me placid and hippie-like is the beautiful sounds of Seascapes of the Interior's album, "All Safe, All Well". It's very good stuff - and as a bonus, my copy is one of 500 limited edition discs featuring handmade packaging - even down to the paper. Nice touch.

I don't think I'll succumb to shopper's regret in the morning; my new phone is like, uberkewl, mahn - and although the cover doesn't hold a candle to the one on my old phone (Rabubi! Rabubi!), there can be no underestimating the allure of an integrated digital camera to one such as I. It is definitely the most feature-rich phone I've ever owned, and bloody hell, it's still classified as new on the market - this a realm of gadget retail I have never before dared to tread. I hope you're impressed, Gavin. ;)

Things I am looking forward to over the next week and a bit:
- Watching The Neverending Story at Chapter
- My next flamenco class
- Getting back into photography (I've been asked if I want to be the official photographer for the UWS Shadows, the Uni's official cheerleading squad!)
- Meeting my deadlines. ;)

Oh, and thanks to those of you who pointed out that the archives are still stukkend (and I mean that in the literal sense) - bear with me, please. I think the problem is with Blogger, but I'm not sure. I'll get around to it, I promise. Sometime. Soon. Ish.

I have been somewhat tight-lipped of late, but trust me, it's not because I don't care. :)

I recently chatted to a very friendly woman in the The Visa Office who cleared up a few misconceptions I'd held regarding visas and work permits and other frightening things. Basically, upon gaining it, my work permit became my primary dompas and rendered my working holidaymaker visa null and void.

So, when I thought I could return from SA later this year (oh, btw, I'll be there for two weeks in September, y'all) and regain entry into the UK on the strength of my working holidaymaker visa, I was woefully mistaken. This means that if my project doesn't get renewed, and if I can't find another job in time, I'll have to go somewhere else - another country in Europe, or maybe even back to SA for good. But I'm not ready to do that just yet! *wail* So anyway, I'm investigating other options - I'm sure there's a creative solution to getting exactly what I want, and it will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine. ;-)

In other news: I'm a finalist in the Technology Wales IT industry awards, in the category of Women in IT. :) There are only 2 finalists in each category, so either way, it will be a good thing for Ye Olde CV. It's also an excuse to get glammed up, because the award ceremony is a black tie affair. A reason to go shopping - woohoo! :-)

Dig! Lady Miss Kier Sues for Misappropriated Groove

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The flamboyant British singer Lady Miss Kier believes a video game has stolen her image, right down to the pink ponytailed hair, short skirt and knee-high boots and signature cry of "Ooh La La."

The artist, real name Kierin Kirby, filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court this week against the U.S. arm of video game publisher Sega Corp., alleging the 2000 game "Space Channel 5" used her likeness without her permission.

Kirby, who found international fame in the early 1990s as lead singer of the band Deee-Lite with the song "Groove Is in the Heart," claimed in the suit that the "Ulala" character in the game too closely resembles her.