moths

The air-conditioning at djbebe's work is not working very well. djbebe does not like the heat and has been opening the window for the benefit of the breeze. The window was left open one night, and the next day djbebe noticed a large moth on the wall near her computer, and some green dots on her desk - like some cleaning fluid or some lunch had been spilt. djbebe did not connect these two events. This morning however, the moth has moved to the ceiling, and there was another green dot right in the middle of djbebe's monitor. djbebe has done some analysis of trajectory, angles, flight path and wind-factor, and concluded that the green stuff is moth poo.

paper toys

Paper stuff - top of the list is spongebob and a pineapple house (perfect pastime for Sponky), but if you scroll further down the downloads, there are 3D paper puzzles - print them, build them and then attempt to solve them (perhaps a pursuit for Betty Sue).

coffee loophole: closing

djbebe's local coffee shop used to have flat whites for 80c less than a latte, while still making the flat white on mostly milk. djbebe switched from latte to flat white to take advantage of this loophole and has since been saving 80c per day while enjoying something close to her coffee of choice. The coffee shop staff recently underwent barista training, with no discernible change in coffee quality - burnt milk, half-filled cups and wildly fluctuating coffee strength all remain. (Unfortunately it is the only coffee shop within reasonable distance.) But now, several weeks later, they are changing the flat white to be more like a real flat white so djbebe may have to go back to lattes and be charged the full cappuccino price. Damn baristas.

speaking of geeks

An opportunity to wax lyrical for djbebe and her fellow femme-geeks. Suggested topics include female geek bonding and feminist commentary on geek culture.

djbebe's feminist spines have recently been made to bristle by reading some of 1978's Superwoman by Shirley Conran (actually reading this article I feel a bit better but the book made me cringe) which outlines techniques for various domestic duties, but mostly cleaning. For example it helps to have a routine - clean the kitchen on Monday, fireplaces on Tuesday, bedrooms Wednesday, bathroom on Saturday etc - of course if you "work", it may help to share these duties with a friend, but try to find one that doesn't talk too much. But of course if you are "working", make sure you count the real cost including make-up and hair which you wouldn't bother with if you were lounging around the house with the kids.

Superwoman opens with the phrase "life is too short to stuff a mushroom". The sentiment being that in order to have the bare minimum of clean house, happy husband, healthy children (career optional) you just have to eliminate some of the luxuries including manicured nails, spotless walls, and, it seems, stuffed mushrooms. djbebe disagrees: if you just re-prioritize, you can have your mushrooms and stuff them too. Sometimes a stuffed mushroom is at the top of the list. So can one femme-geek have it all - a fulfilling relationship with one's ipod, the occasional stuffed mushroom, as well as a career and optional partner that fit in with all of the above?

advice for the home-maker

• if one has a toupe that is prone to shedding, it's best to remove it before preparing food
• if one has numb lips (for example, one has just returned from the dentist), one should use a pincushion