Melissa McEwen’s blog

So on Saturday night it was off to Kat and Burke's house for Atlas - Poland. We managed to find Polish beer and there was also a fair bit of vodka around.  We were treated to three different sorts of pierogi (two are pictured), had a fabulous mushroom and beef dish and of course Polish sausage with beer sauce. I made gulasz barani  - a  lamb goulash which worked quite nicely.

Then for dessert, Rachel pleased James by making Pączki  - Polish jam doughnuts.

In the meantime, the boys who had eaten endless party food, didn't really indulge in the Polish cusine. Sebastian and Jude were introduced to, and entertained by, Danger Mouse, while Zachary feel in love with Kat's Tickle Me Elmo.

While Jude, Zachary and I had gone to Jasmin's party, Sebastian and James rode over to Nick and Catherine's house for Martin's 2nd birthday party (we can't call him a baby any more). There was much trampoline bouncing and party food good times.

Jude and Zachary and I arrived in time for yet another magnificent birthday cake - this time a digger. James did his godfather-equivalent duties and helped Martin blow out his candle before the digger was deconstructed to allow cake consumption.

Zachary did enjoy the cake. Even when everyone else got interested in the present unveiling, Zachary steadfastly remained eating his cake.

Note the spontaneous and unbridled enthusiasm...

It kicked off yesterday morning when Steve and Shell came round after successfully purchasing a new house at auction - and the best thing is it is only 10 minutes walk from our house. so we had champagne to celebrate.

It was then off to the first party for the day with Jude and Zachary. Young Jasmin had a fun 3rd birthday party, bouncing on her trampoline and playing soccer. She also had a most fabulous birthday cake made by Rachel (who enjoyed the opportunity to do soemthing really girly).

Zachary was very fond of the pink guitar, the fairy bread and the little sausages. Jude ran around and played soccer, ate popcorn in a special cone and helped Zac out on the swing. Zachary also managed to convince one of the other parents to push him on the swing for about 10 minutes. Always good to have a winning smile!

I got a new phone yesterday. Nothing terribly spectacular, just a Nokia 6300, but given I got my last phone when Jude was only 3 weeks old, it was probably time. The best bit is that I can plug it into the computer to manage photos and so forth - my old Samsung required infrared and that was just too hard for me to be bothered!

So I tested out the new photo capacity on Sebastian who is at home today. He has had a similar virus to me; he was home Tuesday but went back to school yesterday and came home with no voice! So decided it was best he have another day at home today.

Of course, he didn't really want to cooperate with the photo taking process...

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The more famous blogging Melissa McEwan has posted about this absolutely unbelievable case. It just seems so outrageous it is pretty much beyond comment.

Shakesville: Men Can't Help Themselves; Women Can

http://shakespearessister.blogspot.co...

A bunch of people have passed on this story, about a woman who falsely told her husband she's been raped when he caught her with another man, prompting him to immediately shoot and kill the other man.* She was then convicted of manslaughter, while her husband was not charged at all.What I find particularly intriguing about that result is that it suggests men aren't able to control their emotions—he couldn't help but kill the guy when he thought he'd raped his wife!—which is a rather interesting, ahem, commentary on men. Simultaneously, it suggests that women should be able to control their emotions, and are to be punished when they don't—because, ultimately, what we have is a woman who (wrongly) told a lie in desperation, and a man who (wrongly) killed another man in anger, but it is her rash lie that is punished, not his rashly pulling the trigger. Four times.Of course the argument is that he never would have pulled that trigger without her lie, but why does that mean he should be exempt from punishment? If she had been telling the truth, and he had killed an actual rapist, it's still wrong.-----------------------* That's what we're clearly meant to think, anyway, although something smells fishy to me:Authorities say her husband, Darrell Roberson, fired the shot that killed Mr. LaSalle, 32, outside the Robersons' Arlington home. Mr. Roberson had come home unexpectedly from a gambling trip to Dallas the night of Dec. 11, 2006, and found his wife and Mr. LaSalle together in Mr. LaSalle's truck.He started shooting as a horrified Mrs. Roberson began saying she was raped. Arlington police charged Mr. Roberson with murder, and a detective testified that authorities never took out a warrant for Mrs. Roberson.That sounds to me more like he started shooting, and she started saying she was raped to try to save her own life—which would explain why, originally, he was charged and she was not. I get the distinct impression that this story is not totally what it seems.

Hurrah for him! and hurrah for the state of California for changing its laws.      

All he wanted to do was take his wife's name - World - smh.com.au

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/husb...

"It was personal. I feel much closer to (Diana's) father than I do mine. She asked me to take her name and I thought it would be very simple. I never imagined the state would make it so difficult," Michael Bijon, 31, told reporters.

I think that Canberra is generally at its most beautiful in autumn. The colours are beautiful and we have so many clear cold days with blue skies and sunshine to frame it all. And on the foggy days, the brilliant colours of the leaves looks spectacular against the grey skies.

Of course, it is partly because of the high number of introduced European trees in Canberra, which I wouldn't put here if I was planning the city now. Now my biggest fear is that the on-going drought and water restrictions will end up killing them all.

These photos are of our street, taken from our driveway yesterday.

Well, progress on the thesis had stalled somewhat - last week I worked one and a half days and also had minor and successful surgery on Thursday, meaning that I did not have a huge amount of time for the thesis. I have also now got a cold, which has slowed me somewhat this week - but a handy doctor's certificate at least means that these days can be converted to sick leave, which means I have not lost any time, strictly speaking. And I have made progress. I have now finished the on-paper edit of Chapter 2, so two chapters down, four to go. Some of Chapter 2 I did directly into the document as so much change was required. I think Chapter 2 was the hardest - it was the most sketchily written to begin with and I don't think I understood its purpose when I originally drafted it. Now, however, it is in much better shape and is a lot clearer in purpose and argument. Of course, the main problem is that it has increased in words to gain that clarity....so now I am probably over the 100,000 mark!

But that is OK. I am hoping that my main work with the next three chapters will involve slicing them in size and tightening them up so everything is relevant and clearly hanging together. So that work begins tomorrow.