shelbel

I can completely relate to how your feeling at the moment Echo, I felt the exact same way late last year when Australia held it's election, we had had a very conservative and narrow minded prime minister for almost ten years and our country was crying out for change - even though it always looked imminent that the Australian Labor Party was going to win; I still felt incredibly anxious right up until Kevin Rudd made his victory speech.

I know the American election is so much bigger than the Australian, there is so much more at stake, not just on the home front but also on a world wide scale - I am keeping my fingers crossed Echo; that America gets the change and new direction it so desperately needs.

Sorry about the mistakes Kylie, I'm just learning how to cut and paste, I will retype my message so that it makes sense - this seem to be my week for embarrassing moment!

I'm so glad you like the colours! I was avoiding reading Moby Dick the other day, so I decided to play around with my profile page.

Falling off your bike, sunburn and a flat tyre all in one week Kylie! You have just reminded me why I never ride myself, preferring to encourage rather than participate.

My twin daughters are absolute sport junkies, they love to set themselves goals and train incredibly hard to attain them; they are nothing like me, they get it entirely from their father - I'm not the competitive type at all and I only like to play sport for the enjoyment, I often look at the girls and think they're completely mad!

I've been in such a rut lately with my music choices, gravitating only to the old faithfuls - thanks for the suggestion of CW Stoneking, I will definitely check him out through the week and a big thanks for reminding me of Janis Ian, I haven't listened to her music in the longest time (maybe even years); I pulled her cd out yesterday and played it, I had forgotten how fantastic she is!

I’m so glad you like the colours! I was avoiding reading Moby Dick the other day, so I decided to play around with my profile page.

Falling off your bike, sunburn and flat tyre all in one week Kylie! You have just reminded me why I never ride myself, preferring to encourage rather than participate.

My twin daughters are absolute sport junkies, they love to set themselves goals and train incredibly hard to attain them; they are nothing like me, they get it entirely from their father - I’m not the competitive type at all and I only like to play sport for the enjoyment, I often look at the girls and think their completely mad!

I’ve been in such a rut lately with my music choices, gravitating only to the old faithfuls - thanks for the suggestion of ……., I will definitely check them out through the week and a big thanks for reminding me of Janis Ian, I haven’t listened to her music in the longest time; I pulled her cd out yesterday and played it, I had forgotten how fantastic she is!

Thanks Inver, I was avoiding reading Moby Dick the other day and thought I would change my avatar and play around with my profile page.

Hi Echo, I think you have every right to be feeling quietly confident about Obama, I feel it would take a major disaster on the part of the Democrats to lose now and I just don't think that will happen. I hope you will keep me informed if anything interesting comes up over the next few weeks, we get a little bit of coverage here in Australia, but not as much as I would like.

Hi Echo! I just wanted to let you know how much I've enjoyed reading your political blog - I saw the other day on the news that Obama is 10 points ahead in the opinion polls, things seem to be looking good for him at the moment, even with all the mudslinging the Rupublicans are attempting.

I hope you do get the opportunity to go to Darwin someday Kylie, especially Kakadu, it's simply breathtaking!

I was very surprised that the family knew what I liked to read, I always thought that they never listened to my mad ramblings about books, but they must - I really should learn to give them more credit than I do.

How is the cycling going? It's a nice time of the year to start riding, the weather is perfect; my family got all motivated last weekend and spent hours repairing their bikes - one of the twins is especially keen to hit the roads, she has decided to start triathlon training as she wants to attend the Queensland championships in February.

Also Kylie, I've been on the search for some new music to listen to, I think we have very similar tastes, so I was wondering if you had made any interesting new discoveries lately?

Hi Knitnat, I just wanted to pop in and wish you the best of luck for next week's book launch.

Thanks for the birthday wishes, I had a fantastic birthday! I was away on holidays in Darwin for my actual birthday, but when I arrived home the family had a surprise birthday party waiting for me, I felt very loved and spoilt.

What a haul of books! I was so impressed that my family and friends know my tastes so well, now I just need to find the time to read them.

Thank you for the lovely compliment, it truly made my day when you said you liked my comments on Madame Bovary!

I thought I would return the compliment by letting you know how much I always enjoy reading your Book reviews, I think you have a natural flare for reviewing Kylie; your reviews are always well constructed and thoughtfully written and you always provide an insightful overview of the storyline. Over the past few months, (since joining bcf) I have come to value your opinions and recommendations on books quite highly!

Hi Kylie! I finally finished Madame Bovary about a week ago, it seemed to take forever to plough through this one, no fault of the book of course, just the many distractions of family life!

I really enjoyed Madame Bovary! Gustave Flaubert has a very traditional and beautiful writing style and gives particular attention to detail, the characters of the story were quite difficult to like at times, particularly the protagonist Madame Bovary, but I think that was the author's deliberate intention, as it seemed to enhance Flaubert's underlying social commentary on French povincial life in the 19th century.

I have just finished reading Lolita and have absolutely fallen in love with Vladimir Nabokov writing style! I think I will definitely read more of his books.....I noticed recently that you were reading Pinn, I would love to know if you enjoyed it? And how you found it in contrast to Lolita?

Thanks Wordsgood for all the information on Labradors, I really appreciate the effort you went to, it was very informative and I'm sure I will find it very useful in caring for Rufus.

I'm sure she laps up all the attention! We also have an 11 year old cat called pixie, she is grey and white and very tiny as she never grew, my twin girls love her very much, they fuss over her all the time and she is always very patient with them.

I am sorry it has taken me so long to respond to your message from the other day; I was so saddened to hear the news about your much loved dogs. Cancer is such a dreadful disease and it must have been so traumatic and distressing for you to watch your first dog suffer, and now! To be facing a similar experience with Keiko, it must feel very overwhelming at times; I sincerely hope that keiko will be all right. I know that if anything happened to Rufus it would be devastating as he has become such an important part of our family.

Yes! Rufus is our first lab; we did do a little research when we were deciding to buy a labrador, but nothing we read indicated that labs were predisposed to cancer, thank you for letting me know, I will be much more vigilant in checking him for lumps from now on. I was aware that they were prone to skin and ear allergies and I have also read that labs can be genetically predisposed to hip dislocation.

Our real concern with Rufus at the moment is his weight, he is a rather big boned lab with a huge appetite and his weight seems to have blown out to 45kgs, our vet has indicated that she would like to see him lose some weight, do you have any particular diet that you follow to keep Keiko in shape?

I see you love animals, you have a very beautiful ginger cat that looks as if he might be a little spoilt!

Hi Alison, thank you for your kind offer of friendship, I feel we have alot in common with our love of old movies especially our mutual admiration of Audrey Hepburn.

thank you for you kind offer of friendship; it's always lovely to meet people who are like minded about social justice issues; like yourself I always try to take an interest in world and social issues particularly pertaining to human rights.

Labrador's are such great dogs! Our boy is 20 months old and his name is Rufus, he is incredibly spoilt and seems to have taken over the house.

Just thought I'd pop in to say hello and let you know how much I've appreciated the book reviews you have been posting; interesting books that make you step out of your comfort zone and think!

I did see that movie and really enjoyed! I thought Cate Blanchett was fantastic in her role as a young Bob Dylan! I completely forgot she was a girl.

Have you read Bob Dylan's autobiography yet? It's called Bob Dylan Chronicles, volume one. It's an interesting read if you haven't already read it. Bob addresses everything in this book about his career and music choices.

In the town that I live in there is quite a large Lenard Cohen fan club, each year they hold an all weekend event to celebrate Lenard's birthday, last year as part of the event they screened the Lenard Cohen documentary "Im Your Man".

I think the dvd and soundtrack were released sometime last year.

Thanks Val on the Road you also have great tastes in music! Have you seen the Lenard Cohen documentary yet? It's absolutely brilliant!

It's a documentary based around a Lenard Cohen tribute concert held in Sydney Australia a few years back, so there's lots of Cohen music performed by some of my most favourite contemporary artists like; Nick Cave, Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright and Beth Orton; throughout the concert the documentary pans to Lenard Cohen reflecting on his life, music and poetry. If you haven't seen it yet I highly recommend it! I loved it so much that I bought the dvd and the soundtrack.

Thanks for popping in Val on the Road, I completely agree with you that Bob Dylan is an absolute genius - I have been a huge fan of his for the longest time.

I did see the Bob Dylan film a few months back and enjoyed it, although I did find it difficult to follow at times as it jumped around so much. I think I need to rewatch it again so that I can fully take it in.

I have very electic tastes in music, but I am especially fond of the sixties and seventies, I like the artist you have mentioned especially the Beatles, they are fantastic! Some of my most favourite artist from this time are; Nick Drake, Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell.

Hi Loopyloo, It's funny you should mention that my forum name sounds calming to you; most os my family and friends are always commenting, on how calm and unflustered I always seem. In fact I think I may sound a little too calm, because nobody ever seems to be able to tell when I'm stressed or angry; it can be incredibly frustrating at times.

Try not to worry too much about the packing, I'm sure it will come together once you are on holidays; it's amazing what you can achieve in a short space of time. I once had to pack an entire household for six in less than a week. Yes! I was extremely stressed at the time, didn't sleep, and was completely exhausted afterwards, but I did it.

Have thought about painting your new house yourself? I've painted two houses in the past few years, and I've found it to be hard work but very rewarding; it can be especially fun when you rope friends and family into helping. (Of course you have to bribe everyone with a constant supply of good music, pizza and drinks)

Hi Kylie, this is the saddest story, if it makes you feel any better, I also had to wait a very long time before getting my dog, Rufus. My husband always felt strongly that the kids needed to be older before we got a dog.

How is your preparation going for the move? You must be getting excited?