Finished garden renovations

gladioliIt’s finally ready. After literally years of having a backyard that looks like it was used for World War I recreations, the renovations are finally done. We finally have a garden that’s level, even if it’s not quite complete. Getting my husband to finally replace the mud and the trenches around all the piping into a livable space has been an uphill battle, but the end result is definitely worth it. The space looks three times bigger than I remember and is the perfect blank canvas for my creativity to take hold of. Honestly, it’s unbelievable, really, how long I put up with living in a bomb-site. I’m just so relieved that I’m finally going to be proud of my home. Well, I will be soon, but not yet. There’s still a lot of work to do, but now it’s my turn.

My husband has never been interested in the more aesthetic side of landscaping, even when our yard was an eyesore it never seemed to bother him, but I can’t wait to sink my teeth into the garden. With spring around the corner, I’ve been looking at hippeastrums as well as grasses and trees. I can’t wait to brighten up the place and add my own personal touch. Of course, I’m not just going to plant daffodils. No, I want the place to have a classic, timeless feel, so in my spare time I’ve been looking up the different kinds of gladioli, just to help get my eye in. There are so many different things to chose from, it’s all a little overwhelming. And of course, even if I wanted his help, Daryl won’t go near the gardening side of the garden with a ten foot pole. I can’t say I blame him, the yard was his nightmare from start to finish, I have a feeling he’s glad to be handing it all off to me.

Movie About Programming

IT course MelbourneLook, I’ve never been a huge Yaival DuMesque fan. His movies, to me, are blockbusters posing as deep, philosophical explorations of the human soul. The guy himself is a massive poser who intentionally wears weird stuff to make himself seem eccentric, and you might notice that his ‘kooky’ verbal tics change from one interview to another. He’s really up himself, basically…not my favourite type of person.

But wow, he’s made a good one this time! And I’m not just saying that because it’s my area of interest. Maybe I am, but whatever.

Cyberaia is the story of a simple Melbourne IT course student and his creation, an entire digital world that he eventually grows to love and nurture like a benevolent deity. He’s doing a game design course on the side, but eventually decided not to hand it in and cobbles together something else the night before, because he recognises his creation as being something truly special. In return, the residents of his virtual town treat him as a mythical figure.

Anyway, I won’t give away the whole plot, but it really does delve into the relationship between man and code. I’m a software developer, so most of my relationship with code is me yelling at it for not doing what I want with no explanation. But credit where credit is due, the director really seems to understand the positive aspects of programming. You can feel the passion of the main character as he tried his best to make that virtual town a utopia, even when it seems impossible to do so.

It’s rare to get a movie that deals with subject matter bordering on the realm of fantasy, but also relying sp heavily on real-world conflicts. And accurately portraying my profession! That never happens. I remember people in my initial web design course who thought it was all dark rooms and typing away while green code floats across the screen. A poser he may be, but DuMesque clearly did his research on this one.

Functions IRL are stressful

party venue MelbourneYeah, definitely too much of the same thing. My brain is melting.

Every year we have this stupid celebration, and I don’t even know why because it’s pointless. The Australian Hermit Gaming Conglomeration is, by definition, meant to be people who do not want to meet each other. That was just fine in the beginning, and in fact up until recently. Now we’ve got a new president, and he’s making us leave our basements on a yearly basis or we lose our membership. And this group is all we’ve got, so you’ve got to have a really good reason for not attending one of the meetings.

Yeah, so anyway…at least I’m not on the planning committee. I’ve heard they had a lot of trouble finding an actual party venue in Melbourne because none of them ever leave their houses and they don’t know what they look like. Like, they don’t know what actual function rooms look like, because they generally spend more time blowing up aliens and creating virtual worlds in Mine-Craft, the game where you make your very own spaceship, one about which you can say ‘this is mine, this craft’ and then you travel the universe terraforming planets to your personal specifications. The scope for creativity is just so vast, you wouldn’t believe. And we could be in there, all that time we’re crammed into a tiny room and being forced to interact IRL. IRL is so overrated, and we chat to each other with our headsets anyway, so why? Just…why?

We’ve only had one in Melbourne so far, and it was almost unbearable. I was so nervous at meeting everyone I nearly sweat through my fedora. Then I spent the whole time talking to DemonRed96, who was also at the party but we didn’t see each other face-to-face because we both brought our headsets. Still no idea what he looks like. Probably never will, especially if we follow through with next year’s plans and sign up for ice skating lessons. I might have to find a new society.