Knockin' them over

I said I would try to get all the 1/2 finished sewing projects completed and so far so good. 
I completed a dog bed for Jessie, a 14 year old cattledog but she scratched it to pieces while making herself comfortable so now I have fabric scraps covering the lounge room floor (People keep telling me she's a dingo but it's illegal to keep dingos so she is MUST be a c.a.t.t.l.e.d.o.g.) . Oh well, win some - lose some. So I shall mend it and give it to Spook and I'll probably felt a heap of raw wool into a shade cloth cover which I trust she will not be able to destroy.

I also finished my crochet experiment with bread bags. I now have a plastic basket which I plan to use for wet swimming gear. Crocheting bread bags was interesting but it was a lot of effort for insufficient result. IF my dogs did not chew things I could make springy, flea-free beds for them but...you know...they're right up there on the scale of destruction they cause to homes - floods, fire, tsunamis and dogs....maybe they should be included in insurance?

Disturbing in two completely different ways

Cartoonists are spying on me

Next Challenge

I'm continuing the Scroogezilla habit as strictly as possible because it makes life easier AND now that my craft room is well ordered and I can start SEWING! Obviously my next challenge is to complete all the unfinished projects. I think, realistically, I can average one a week.  First I'll make a heap of bags for Angels for the Forgotten and then marsupial bags from Rachel's old flannelette sheets (thanks Rach!).  That should move a lot of the material out of the cupboard.
Mum, how many would you like and what sizes? Or would you prefer hemmed box liners?

 

Ghetto Hikes

This guy leads urban kids on hikes. He likes to write down what they say at Ghetto Hikes.

“I’mma sneak one dem tadpoles in De’Shawn’s ingredients bag, or whateva you call it… trail mixers.”

“I’mma tape a Kudos bar on Raymond’s back… We get attacks by a bear or sumthin, he gunna eat his ass firs

“Mr. Cody, me n’ Patrice gunna poke holes in the top of dis tent. My mama gunna be pissed if I come home stuffocated.”

Whitegoods revolt

The microwave's turning pin has broken so it don't go round no more. No biggie - but annoying. So, for the record...in the last 3 months the following items have died...

• freezer
• washing machine 
• mower
• oven & a stove element
• camera
• PC speakers

That's enough to make any animist deeply paranoid.

Why?

New emerald-cut shaped galaxy. Why Not?

Still going

I'm into month 3 of my buy nothing challenge and am easily managing to shed something every day. We even managed to avoid buying a wedding present because Sean gave his friend the gift voucher which was originally the end of year work bonus. In lieu of a card we stuck the voucher to a some sort of computer circuitry (A computer card! Boom! Boom!). 

However today we're breaking again to buy a camera - a water resistant, SHOCK resistant camera because I can not satisfy the home education registration requirements without being able to take photos of the things we do.

P.S. 5 April: Bought a heap of art materials today and flippers yesterday. Oh well... time to cull all those winter clothes I pulled out of storage.

The Chosen

I read The Chosen by Chaim Potok months ago and I MUST find the novel again because its plot and themes are like those jingles that get stuck in your head - it won't go away!!

Quickie explanation: Two boys are growing up on either side of Judaism (modern & fundamental). They struggle with the burden their cultures place upon them and one makes the decision very painfully to walk his own path as opposed to the one determined by tradition. Potok (a rabbi) is not advocating one throws away tradition but demonstrates that one needs to engage actively with the issues and make a very conscious decision. There are layers upon layers of themes, motifs and information shoe-horned into this slim novel. Very interesting for me were the descriptions of Jewish life in post-war America, of which I was barely conscious, and how Zionism created the Westbank-Gaza conflict.

Damn it! I borrowed that book from someone...who was it?! Obviously I should have stolen it instead.

Busines logo tweaks

Recently my office gave the grant writing division a new logo. Now we have a picture to go with our job title. Isn't it sweet? But then I thought..."But not all grant angels are women." So I tweaked it a little.  And then it occurred to me that we're not all angels either, so I had to make a few more changes. And then I thought...even that does not suit me because I'm not one of those cute, sexy, little devils...I'm a subversive creature who works in its cave at night, digging for gold - AH! I must be a goblin. So I sent my tweak back to the boss. She laughed and said she'd sack me if I used it.  ...sigh...there ain't no truth in advertising.

In for a penny

 Mum has commented on my previous post, "ET phone home", that she does not think that a child of an atheist should be attending a Christian activity. This is a fair call however my making light of his ignorance about religion does have a serious side.

Firstly, to clarify, this activity is open to the public. Anyone is welcome to attend and I am sure they would be delighted to greet people of any religion walking through their doors - they are honestly accepting people (note the difference between "accepting" and "tolerant"). Also these days there are plenty of other-faith and non-faith people attending private Christian schools but that is a post for another day.

So why am I sending Kirk to a Christian activity at all? Just like every one else - we value the education! It is not possible to be fully conversant with world culture if you are not aware of biblical history, the role religion plays in our society and how it has shaped our metaphoric language. Three major religions; Christianity, Judaism & Islam all share that founding Middle Eastern culture and a very large amount of the "lore" is based on the same documents. Yes, I could easily teach him all this myself, but then it would just be a history lesson. He also needs to understand the context and the culture wrapped around it and nothing beats direct experience hence, "In for a penny, in for a pound".

What dinosaur are you?

Apparently I am the fat, lazy dinosaur who likes to wallow like a hippo!
DIAMANTINASAURUS MATILDAE
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/timetravellers/#/What_Creature_Are_You

Rain

Again. More of it. It is nearing the end of March when normally the paddocks would be starting to dry off, instead the weather is akin to monsoonal latitudes with the brief patches of sun accompanied by heavy mugginess, relieved only by the breaking rains which go on all night. Nevertheless, it's no drama - people here don't mind when nature gives them a holiday.

Birdman

Bert Hinkler would have killed for this mechanism. http://humanbirdwings.net/

ET phone home

ET (aka Kirk) encountered earthmen for the first time at Kids Club, which is the modern incarnation of Sunday school. He watched in sceptical amazement as the excited children sang praise songs on stage.  Fortunately they project the words up on the screen and when he read "My god is a great big god !" He decided that since he didn't know what or who a god was he would just reverse the word because THEN it made a lot more sense.

GPS 1 : Tourists 0

The Tokyo students wanted to take a day trip to Stradbroke Island and believed their GPS unit would be able to guide them there. The GPS forgot to mention the 15 kilometres of water and mud between the mainland and the island. Read more 

New expression

"...testing (a crocodile's bite) is like dragon slaying by committee, often involving ten or more people to test a single animal," Greg Erickson, Florida State University
Crocodiles Have Strongest Bite Ever Measured, Hands-on Tests Show National Geographic (March 2012)

I HAVE to use it!!

The police phoned today

The president of the Bundy Rodeo Committee is missing. A paramedic found his motorbike & helmet in tact but nothing of the man. Somewhere out in cyberspace there is contact information for the Historical Society with my number on it so I received a call from the police asking if we had any old mining maps showing the mine shafts. I called Wendy the current president & curator who said "Quite likely" and went off to look and in the meantime I searched online for anything relevant...and I dare I say that I very quickly struck gold?  https://webgis.dme.qld.gov.au/webgis/webqmin/viewer.htm  This has ALL the registered mines in Qld, including the abandoned ones. I was mildly surprised at how many abandoned mines are around that area so I suppose it is quite possible the bloke went to see what he could see. The geography is not rough but with two good wet seasons the bush is pretty dense now. Fingers crossed but after 4 days now I think they would be lucky to find him alive.

It's UGLY!

 From Cute Home Pets

There are hairless cats and dogs, so of course someone had to invent a hairless guinea pig. The only advantage I can see is you don't have to peel it.

Oh but wait! There's MORE! I am overjoyed!

Chooks http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2307-featherless-chicken-creates-a-flap.html

Sheep http://www.wiltipoll.com.au

Ooohhh what an excellent website!!! http://www.thefeaturedcreature.com/#axzz1pB3h7J7u 

Weakening

Scroogezilla weakened yesterday and allowed Kirk to buy a Ghanian bracelet from Isaac. Well, that's pretty good - I've gone 5 weeks buying nothing but that bracelet. Sean, however has made a few purchases with the mower and the stuff for the band. Mind you, culling gets easier and easier!

LOOK!

Yesterday we went to Hippy Di's Festival. When the requisite belly dancers came on stage (I was off having a massage) Sean tells me that her eyes opened wide, her jaw dropped and she pointed to the dancers stating loudly, "Titties! Titties!"   Should I have weaned her sooner?

Don't Kill the Pygmies!

Thankfully Sean HAS fixed the lemon mower because the grass in the paddocks is over the X-Trail's bonnet. Not that I mind but it's sometimes hard to avoid running over the dogs.

OH! And today I met donkeys. I like them. Hey Rach! How do you feel about teaching donkey riding lessons?

fiverr

http://fiverr.com
Just go and look at it.

Homeschool Group Calendar is Up

See Gin Gin Home Educators to know what the homeschool group are doing each week. I'm using the blogger platform because it saves logging on somewhere else or making another website.  The KISS principle wins every time :-)

Hey, Strawberry Shortcake!

Blueberry Muffin's here for breakfast! 

This is not my child. 

But she looks suspiciously like this one...

 

...so she must have escaped from TV land.

That Time of the Month

It's amazing what a little pressure can do to my productivity. Normally I will spend a good week tinkering with the wording of a grant, finely tuning the nuances, clarifying the points and culling redundancies. But when the pressure is on, I finally pull my finger out and it all falls into place.

Evaluation

This week Sean had to buy mower parts (cue: native drums) and there was a HUGE pack of washing powder on special in IGA so I grabbed it. Haven't done the cull yet due to it being that time of the month* but I am expecting couch surfers tomorrow so I'll do it when I clean the bedroom.

On the topic of washing powder, about 15 years ago washing balls came onto the market. They claimed to clean your clothes without washing detergent. They appeared to be inert, some were made of ceramic and others were very obviously just basalt rocks in a plastic cage. The sellers tried to tell me that the balls had some sort of magnetic property which made the water molecule smaller so it could penetrate the cloth better (Here comes a Charlie!).Nevertheless, it made me think that if these people were still able to wash clothes without washing powder (a) those people obviously did not have kids and (b) washing powder in itself was overrated.

SO! I experimented with how little washing powder I could use and still successfully wash clothes. My conclusions after a few months were; YES, if you worked in an air conditioned office like Sean, you certainly can discard washing powder BUT you might like to pre-scrub the collars and chuck in a little vinegar to deodorise the effects of stinky male armpits. However if you were a massage therapist who worked at a mud farm like myself then NO!  Massage oil, mangrove mud and fish guts have particularly penetrative properties and will not come out even in hot water without some chemical assistance.

Once Kirk was born, people gave me LOADS of advice - one of the best parts was from a lady around the corner who raised 6 kids with cloth nappies, "If you soak the nappies in Nappisan then don't bother with washing powder as the residual will give the kids nappy rash."  So again I experimented and found that I didn't even need to soak the nappies in Napisan. I discovered if I dry pail the pissy nappies the urine converts to ammonia so I don't have to use Napisan at all and 1/2 the recommended amount of detergent suffices.  Note also I generally use an eco-wash so there are no brighteners or bleaching agents so the nappies come out clean but not retina-piercing white.

*That time of the month" means lots of grants are due.

Story of my life...

Last week, I opened the PO box, stretched up and shoved my arm inside, feeling around for stray mail that I can't see.  I then jumped up and down a couple of times (yes, very amusing for onlookers) to verify I hadn't missed anything and then I noticed there was a note taped on the other side, sticking down so the post office staff could read it. It was bent inwards and although upside down it was legible so with great curiosity I dragged myself up to the level of the box and read it. It said, "Two short ladies live here."

The Month of Rejuvenation

This is turning into a month of rejuvenation. Not for myself unfortunately (far from) but for appliances. Earlier this month we involuntarily bought a freezer and a washing machine. This week the stove needs new parts (for god's sake it's only 16 years old!), the speakers on Kirk's computer died (damn, it's not like he uses them on full bore), and the mower needs the starter motor and fuel pump replaced (can you say "Lemon"?). It appears the whitegoods are revolting....  "Computer! I know your keyboard is starting to be faulty and you're getting slow in your old age but you know I love you very dearly, and want you to continue working indefinitely!"

Mmm...my friend is selling a wood cooker...but I really don't want to light a fire every day...

Sweet Relief

http://www.gocomics.com/frazz?ref=comics

The response I get in highschool when they see me coming for their relief teacher is "Oh no, it's HER! She's gunna make us do work!" Usually followed by a series of expletives. It's better than the response another teacher gets, "Woohoo it's Miss ** - Bludge time!"

Scroogezilla Revisited

Week 1 of the the Buy Nothing Challenge has not been very challenging so I'm going to add another dimension; I'm also going to shed an item every day - this does not include garbage - and when we HAVE to buy something (eg mower parts) I will shed 2 things for every 1 that we buy. Stuff should also go to a new home if possible and not just be dumped on Lifeline. Now it's a challenge.

Born a rev-head

Kirk has taken possession of an old, electric whipper snipper which, thankfully, has no powerhead so essentially it is useless. But in the hands of a mini-rev-head the sound alone evokes from him evil genius laughter.  I'm sure he's thinking about strapping it to the canoe...hey...yeeaah..."Oh Kiiirrrk!"  [sound of two evil geniuses cackling].

Garbage Guts

This morning I cut up a 5kg fillet for smoking. Naturally Kurgan was on hand to help. Half way through the process I called to Sean, "Go get me another dog, this one's full."

Malunggay

A friend was shopping at the markets with me and asked about some leafy stuff I bought. The Philipine name is malunggay (in Tagalog) and it is similar to spinach and is it is just 1/5 the price. However it is very twiggy so if you're a lazy cook like me, your diners have to pick the sticks out of their curry.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moringa_oleifera
I looked it up online years ago and had a laugh as it sounded like a miracle plant - much like the Neem and Aloe Vera - largely overrated as it is here: http://stuartxchange.com/Malunggay.html   I think people mistake the intake of better nutrition as the agent of cure but with the right building blocks the body largely cures itself. (Hippocrates had something there). 
To me malunggay seems a better deal because you get 4 products in one, being a tree it only has to be planted once unlike spinach which needs to be planted annually,  and from what I see it needs little care and can cope with bad soil and drought.  One day I'll get around to asking one of the Philipine ladies for a few cuttings.

There's your lecture for the day... 

Searching

As I drove towards town this afternoon, I saw a police helicopter land at the showgrounds....bad.
As I passed the hospital hundreds of cars, police & SES were gathered there...very bad.

This evening I discovered it is the Lawrence family grandfather who is missing. Their grandfather is a spritely 88 year old man who has dementia and was last seen heading north along the highway....catastrophic.


His large family literally CARE for the people of Gin Gin. They work as fieries, ambos, counsellors, teachers, foster parents and chaplains.  They are ALL open minded, non-judgemental, unassuming people who work incredibly hard. I hold them in the highest regard. Darren Lawrence performed Rohan's funeral (his first as a chaplain), his family prepared the church and were on hand with food and support the whole time (+ months afterwards).

The search resumes tomorrow 6am, a lot of people are going on horseback because it is all bushland north of there.


Sigh...and our day started off so lovely with the baby music class - run by the Lawrence family girls.

 

One for Rachel

From Highly Irritable ;10 things to do before you graduate University 

 Sigh...Yes, uni at 18 was sooo much more fun than uni at 25 ... actually uni at 25 was no fun at all. However TEACHING at uni was GREAT - it's so cruisy compared to normal jobs.

 

Borking

Adjective. When something is so boring you go barking mad. eg How is the introductory IT subject? Borking!

Crash Test Dummy

Yes, it's permanent pen so I'm glad Sean is taking her to the swimming lesson tomorrow.

Snip Snip Snip

So what ELSE can I cut? 

Bathroom: I've pushed down the usage of toiletries down massively - I have not bought anything for months. One bar of soap in a jar of water refills the soap pump at least 20 times which far outlives a bar of soap going squishy on the sink. I hang the shower soap in a net bag so it does not dissolve  down the plughole. We rarely use shampoo - hot water each night seems to be enough. I am still using up moisturisers people gave me for Skye 2 years ago and will make my own in the future. I make my own deodorant (bicarb & peppermint oil). Installing the butt gun (bidet) cut our dunny paper usage to 1/5. Toothpaste: tiny squeeze & lots of brushing. Shaving: optional. Hot water is free but if we had shorter showers then the pump would not have to run as long.


Laundry: I MIGHT use a box of laundry detergent every 8 weeks and I am currently sorting our towels and putting away the excess so the kids can't drag them around the house to provide me (now THEM) with more washing. Also I'm going to keep a tighter control over their clothes to reduce the laundry...do kids need to wear clothes at all?

Cleaning: I am conservatively using up the odds and sods in the cupboards, some of them since the previous owners moved out 8 years ago - although I think this says more about my negligent cleaning habits than my frugality.

Kitchen: Maybe we can eat more Arabic & Indonesian dishes where everyone shares from the same platter rather than making a mountain of dirty dishes? AND I'm going to put away all the extra cutlery & crockery. That one will be hard because I always seem to have a house full of visitors. I suppose I could also cut down on hot drinks and hot, buttery toast because those appliances cost a fair bit to run...

Electronics: Sean already turns off the unnecessary things at night and I work with just one desk lamp.  We don't have a TV or stereo system but we do have computers running all the time but that should change when Sean farms out the server and maybe I can discipline myself to only turn the computer on when I sit down to work at night (Hard!)


Climate control: The fans are on constantly during summer but maybe solar panels would cool the roof even further and negate that completely. Also we could move outside earlier instead of turning on the fans or just get used to the heat!  In winter I have started to sit under an electric rug instead of turning on a heater and maybe I'll move the whole family into one bedroom next winter so only so heater is required.

Food: I don't think I can get more frugal in this department without ceasing to eat completely - with the exception of bread and cheese I make everything from scratch.  Mind you,  I  CAN make the bread and cheese from wheat and milk but that costs more than buying it. I suppose we could cancel the wine subscription - but then we'd need to turn up the heat in winter.

Transport: Another tough one. It is hard to cut the miles living here and I am out 4 days a week with kids activities. I NEVER "pop down to the shops" and we try to organise all the homeschool activities on one day. Also it is common sense to take care of the cars properly so we do not skimp on maintenance. HA! It took me 7 years to wear through the first set of brake pads so my driving can't be too bad but maybe I can turn off the air conditioning and drive even more slowly. Perhaps I should take more care about where I buy fuel and at what time of day and start keeping he fuel vouchers from the IGA.

Anyway, PLEASE feel free to give me more ideas! I would be very appreciative  :-)

Scroogezilla

With a new freezer & washer, swimming, soccer & vet fees plus car repairs all amounting to a rather ouchy sum, my next personal project will be to buy NOTHING for the rest of the year.  Food, transport, electricity & education are acceptable.  My kids won't object - they'll be too busy washing clothes.

Wishy Washy Memories

The washing machine died 3 weeks ago and I finally replaced it. I loaded it the minute it arrived home and the kids watched the whole process exclaiming and squealing in delight... Bunch-a dags! They won't be squealing when they have to do the washing themselves!

My first machine after leaving home was a twin tub (TT) in Japan (1993). I always hold the rinse water for the next wash and one very cold winter the cat, Arbuckle, jumped onto the machine thinking the lid was on and was shocked to find himself crashing though an icy crust. Do I need to describe his reaction?

The next washer was a late 70s TT from my grandma, followed by Sean's mum's TT Whirlpool - an early 70s (?) vintage - which washed so violently the clothes looked like they were trying to escape (socks were regularly thrown clear across the laundry). It was FANTASTIC! But soon I inherited Nana's top loading automatic and Sean kept repairing it until the only things which kept it running were washing line pegs and wire. When Nana had a stroke and she and Pa moved into nursing homes their newer machine came to live with us and I suppose we wore that one out too.

Around 2004 we moved to Gin Gin where the property owners had left behind their monstrous top loader which used 140 L with every wash. Now we were on tanks I choked at the water consumption. However my sister moved in and introduced us to front loaders. How curious! How DID the water stay in? Did it wash as well as a top loader? Was it as fast as a top loader? The damn thing used just 60L for the whole cycle so when Sean moved to Kingaroy I sent the white elephant with him and  *BOUGHT* a washing machine. OMG! *ME* SPEND MONEY?! And it wasn't a cheap one - it was an $800 whoopty-doo-scrub-yer-jeans-and-polish-yer-dog front loader.  Was I impressed? You bet! And I was sooo thankful for it because we then entered 5 years of severe drought and right at the end, when the rain failed completely, we were still able to wash nappies. MOST families ran out of water early that year and the kids were showering at school (or going to the public pool a lot more regularly! BLEAH!)

Anyway the Bosh has died (only 7 years old!)... and I replaced it with a twin tub.  NO, I am not nostalgic for manual washing but right now my wallet us firmly sewn shut. The TT cost 1/3 the price of a regular washer and can wash 3 loads in the time it takes a front loader to do one. It is simple enough for Sean to fix, uses the same volume of water as a front loader and if it is anything like its predecessors it will last 50% longer than an automated machine. And yes....EVEN A CHILD CAN USE IT.

Thankyou Gambling Addicts!

DUDES!!!  I WIN - AGAIN!!!  I just scored $20,000 for a shed for SES, $5,000 for solar panels for the Curra Country Club and $32,000 for Blackbutt State School for pool heating. All courtesy the gambling fund.

SO! Over 2011 I brought in $300,000 for Wide Bay-Burnett community development.  I'm waiting on two more grants to be announced from last year and if I can score just ONE of then my hit rate will be 50%
 What would REALLY make my day would be to score the $1.5 million medical centre we applied or last year but we'll have to wait until May for that announcement.

Run like a muppet

A year or so ago I would exploit the innocence of my boy and say, "Show us yer nuts!" and he would put on a crazy act. This fell out of use for obvious reasons. However recently Kirk and I saw the latest muppet movie and noted how much Skye resembles them when she runs. So now our cue for "do silly stuff" is "RUN LIKE A MUPPET".  Gales of laughter guaranteed.

Dance with Wolves - Plays with Pigs

The Dutch are very into animal rights (but they still eat them) and are looking for ways to prevent boredom in mass farmed pigs. Some researchers are experimenting with computer games for pigs where they interact with people via a touch screen hooked to the internet.
http://www.playingwithpigs.nl/

Could you imagine kids playing this game and then being served porkl? "OMG! You're eating Clementine.  Booo Hoooo Hoooo!!!" or maybe it could go like this, "The damn pig beat me! Bahhahahaha! BUT I WILL HAVE THE LAST FORK!"

If you don't like the way I drive...

...stay off the pavement, and the out of the paddock and definitely don't go anywhere near the creek! Bob's Pajero ROCKS ...and tilts and spins and slides....  I wonder if I can keep it?

PS: Changed my mind! Drinks like Noah and its gearbox is just as shagged!

Clever

I walk the dinosaur....

Sean lent my car to friends while theirs is being repaired so I am driving Leo's* dinosaur - an automatic Ford Falcon GL Wagon. This morning pottering around town it started to overheat so I drove it VERY carefully to a mechanic. It seems there may be a blown gasket. Sigh.. it looks like another "interesting" week on the way.

Post Script: Bob is offering to loan his Pajero for the week - mmm...a serious 4WD...play time :-)

*Who is Leo? Algerian-French guy on a working visa. We met him via Isaac & he left his car & gear with us so he could travel light to Catherine for work. He must have struck gold because now he is in Fiji. 

Why I love Nat Geo

Nice Purse :-)

This was in National Geographic's favourite shots of December.  My first thought was, "What the hell is that purse doing there?" My next was, "Brave man!" At least he won't misplace his valuables.

Kirk & Friend

Ross took these photos of Kirk being very much  himself. 

"Distractable" is an understatement

Some people say, "Take time to stop and smell the flowers" but being easily distracted means I eat them instead.


Reading Cosmos magazine tonight has taken me on a really enjoyable journey... Their article on synaesthesia (sorry can't link as it is in the digital subscriber section) has prompted me to wonder if my friend who sees auras actually has an unusual form of synaesthesia? So possibly people are not actually putting out an aura - rather her synapses are cross wired and when she interprets their emotions it shows as a coloured field around the person.

And from there it was all tangential...Looking for support about this idea I came across the  Periodic Table of Swearing and then a blog about the benefits of being bilingual.  Apparently bilingualism makes you better able to apply theory of mind (guessing what other people are thinking, empathising etc...) and this gels well with my personal theory that ALL kids should be sent overseas after highschool for at least a year and this would stop all wars because it's very difficult to make war when 1/2 your population is shagging the enemy. (When you stop seeing people in 2D and understand they love their kids as much as you do it is impossible to make war on a population).

THEN on the same blog site I discovered the Navajo Indians' taboo of eating fish. This reminded me of an account I read over 20 years ago of an early Tasmanian explorer's encounter with an aboriginal woman when he was fishing (pub. date approx early 1900s). He offered her some fish but she expressed revulsion and rejected the offer. He concluded that native Tasmanians did not eat fish so I wondered if there was any confirmation of this in modern anthropology. Reading this article, The Polemics of Eating Fish in Tasmania, it looks like this question is still far from settled and there is a tousle over that the lack of evidence (ie lack of fishbones in the ancient middens) does not mean people are not eating fish however the subtext is about anthropologists quibbling over whether dropping fish from the menu represents a step back for their society having lost the knowledge of fishing or a fine tuning of their needs as richer fare was available for less effort. I speculate that the anthropologist's emotional-ethical pre-disposition towards the native people may affect which side of the issue they stand on. (At a stretch I could say that this phenomenon is similar to that issue of empathy & theory of mind attributed to bilinguals ;-)

I eventually regained my original track, and there were plenty of studies of the various types of synaesthesia but no studies supporting my idea about aura readers although someone beat me to the hypothesis and has suggested an emotional synaesthesia. I wonder how many aura readers would submit themselves to such a study and what would their conclusions be - those of the scientist and the subjects?

Post Script: While I was writing this post an old friend rang and raved on for a couple of hours. He was very drunk and in a very deep funk as his uncle died last week. Sigh...c'est la vie...