When the British first came to Australia, they really disliked eucalyptus trees. They didn’t shade you; they looked ragged; and they were everywhere. Like most Australians, eucalypts are my favourite tree. They are evergreen, with a beautiful silvery sheen and a pale grace. So here’s a pretty pretty picture of a tree. What do vampiresContinue reading “#33: Photograph a tree”
Author Archives: Felicity Banks Books
#269: I Quit!
Every job has disadvantages. The disadvantage of private tutoring (my main source of income*) is that it is casual work – very, very casual. So casual that even when I actually have work, and no-one cancels, people very often either (a) Forget I’m coming, and (b) Forget to pay me, or (c) Both. Generally IContinue reading “#269: I Quit!”
#268: “The King’s Speech” at Dendy Premium
CJ and I have now been married for two years – and we still like each other. We celebrated by visiting Dendy Premium cinemas for “The King’s Speech” (knowing via word of mouth that it would be stellar). My perfect evening involves food, dessert, Baileys, CJ, a couch, and a movie – Dendy has it all.Continue reading “#268: “The King’s Speech” at Dendy Premium”
#113: A Five Course Meal
You can tell by the (relatively) low number that this was on my list waaaaaayyyy back in March 2010 when I started my plan of a year of Daily Awesomeness. Since then I’ve been studying manners for my steampunk book, so when I couldn’t get inspired by anything awesome last Sunday and I glanced atContinue reading “#113: A Five Course Meal”
#267: Let him kill the spider
I’m scared of a lot of things, so my fear of spiders is no big deal. But it’s nice, every so often, to not bother being brave. And it’s nice, every so often, for a man to do the manly thing. So in our house, CJ kills the spiders. It’s an elegant symbol of myContinue reading “#267: Let him kill the spider”
#266: Late-night ice cream run
I don’t actually need to write this entry at all since I feel certain you’re all sitting at your computer/phone, nodding in agreement. I hear you. Late-night ice cream runs are, by their very nature, awesome. This one was more awesomer. First, because there was a group of us going. Second, because it was the legendary ColdContinue reading “#266: Late-night ice cream run”
#265: Film a twitchy kitty
I recently discovered that Ana sleeps – and dreams – with her eyes open. (Not weird at all.) Every so often, CJ will smile at me and say, “Did you sleep well?” When this happens, I panic. Most recently, it turned out that I (apparently awake some time after midnight) had laughedContinue reading “#265: Film a twitchy kitty”
#264: Vodka and caviar
Today’s mission (suggested by Ben) was: Eat something ‘gross’ that is considered a delicacy in another culture. Ever since watching “The Strange Case of Benjamin Button” (which, sidebar, I didn’t like due to the excessive sadness) I’ve wanted to combine vodka and caviar – like Tilda Swinton’s character does in the film. Since I’m buying caviarContinue reading “#264: Vodka and caviar”
“Zeppelin Jack and the Black Diamond” so far
1 My best friend Nip and I snuck into a real bar – sort of. We’d annoyed our zeppelin’s one and only barkeep until he punished us with dishes. Giz parped in my pocket. Things are truly dull when your automata complains. But then I saw two men whispering, with their heads bent close. IContinue reading ““Zeppelin Jack and the Black Diamond” so far”
#253: Make the world
Yesterday I went without internet and TV for another long, painful 24 hours. (When I have a child, I plan to keep them from TV for at least two years. . . that should be HILARIOUS.) I didn’t get that babysitting job I wanted, but I don’t think it was because she suspected I wasContinue reading “#253: Make the world”
#129: Buy a lemon tree
On Monday the second of May, 2010, I bought a lemon tree. This is what it looked like then: One month later (I rigged a towel over our clothes horse to protect it from frost): And on December 27th 2010, there were lemons growing: Yay! I made food!
S#39: Learn Braille
Last night, some friends and I discussed what we’d give up in order to get what we want (which varied from world peace to superpowers). Most of us would give up a leg, but one person said they’d rather give up an arm. Most of us would hold on to sight even if it wasContinue reading “S#39: Learn Braille”
#262: Build a steam engine
One of the things that’s so wonderful about steampunk technology is that, given five minutes, anyone can understand how it all works. I took that five minutes yesterday, and felt so good about it that I decided to build one. After some thought about which saucepans I wasn’t too fond of, and how I couldContinue reading “#262: Build a steam engine”
#261: Research
I am almost certainly going to write a young adult steampunk novel this year, set mainly in Australia. At the moment, I’m in the research stage – very carefully not writing the plot until I know the world. I’m reading up on convicts, bushrangers, crinolines, gold, shipwrecks, Victoria, Australia’s inland lake (which doesn’t exist), manners,Continue reading “#261: Research”
S#10: Trim
Today’s awesomeness was all about making boring clothes exciting. If you interpret clothes with holes in as “exciting” and interpret plain, functional clothing as “boring” then I precisely reversed today’s mission. Which is sort of like doing it, right? I started the day with two basketfuls of miscellaneous sewing rubbish from under my desk. IContinue reading “S#10: Trim”
#260: Blob
For the last month, I’ve had exactly one hour of paid work a week. You know how holidays go – for the first few days it’s the best time ever. You see old friends, or do stuff you’ve been meaning to do for six months. Then the first few days are gone, and your levelContinue reading “#260: Blob”
#259: Locked room mystery
I had a plan for today’s blog – a good one. Today I had an interview for a job minding two small children one day a week. Since I’m planning to eventually have two small children of my own, this was enormously appealing – and it was also very good in terms of location and hours. That’sContinue reading “#259: Locked room mystery”
S#80: Sparklers
My Indonesian uncle had never seen sparklers before, so he had another new experience (24 hours after his introduction to sushi). You can hear and see him oohing, ahing and laughing.
#258: Cake and Chopsticks
This was so cool! Inspired by being told that Chinese people eat cake with chopsticks, reader W suggested that I do the same. Since I ended up with a decent bunch of people at my house last night (my Indonesian uncle had sushi for the first time), I ordered them all to obey yet anotherContinue reading “#258: Cake and Chopsticks”
#257: Mix it up
I have an Indonesian uncle, and he and his wife called me this morning asking if I was free tonight. I’m not – I’m so very not. But they live in Perth, so. . . Tonight my aunt and uncle are coming to my sushi/Bible study/cake-and-chopsticks extravaganza. So is an atheist friend of mine. (IfContinue reading “#257: Mix it up”