This will hurt me...

Henry is deciding exactly what pose he should take for the proposed statue to be erected in his honour at Seven Mile Beach. Is this imperial enough?

My beautiful little BIG angel and oldest son, Henry , turns the big FOUR today. I thought that I'd honour the little bugger with a trip down memory lane while we prepare for the birthday bash of the millennium! Happy birthday Henry, you handsome devil!

A bit of an early morning paddle. Sullivans Cove, June 2010. Finishing up all of my old stock footage here. The Shed in the background there now has a whizz bang new roof! One must be brief today, as in a mere few hours, we shall be celebrating my darling Henry's FOURTH birthday. Oh Henry, how we love thee! CESAR VALLEJO , Luis Benitez Walking along the corridors of imagination, free and alone forever, as when he was and didn't know he was a child, until forgetting that I'm imagining. That this heavy flesh, that urinates and sweats, be resumed in one or two ideas or comes right back, to that almost nothing that sees almost nothing in its cloudy sky. Send me back to the chimpanzee or make me only literature, but do not retain in me the condition of man. What weighs everything within me in the outside has no weight.

Dare I suggest a hint of Robert Redford circa Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ?

Ezra is a little lackadaisical in manning the back pocket. Geilston Bay, October 2010. Friday means Book Club Friday in this part of the world, and a super-busy week has meant that I’ve not had too much spare time to read. That said, I did manage to finish an odd little book from a German author I’d not read before, The Book of Words by Jenny Erpenbeck. I’ll admit that I struggled through the first fifty or so pages, and I only kept going because it is quite a short novel. It’ll be hard to reflect on it without venturing into possible SPOILER territory, so proceed with caution… The novel is transmitted through a very fragmented, vaporous kind of narrative voice, which initially reads very much like a creative writing exercise written by a talented, but raw and inexperienced writer. While I don’t mind fiddling about with narrative, the almost deliberately obtuse expression initially jars with what concerns the inner life of a young girl. Eventually (after about fifty pages, funnily en...

As Henry (and his wonderful eyelashes) gears up for his birthday party, the world awaits what magisterial magnificence will be served up in the form of a birthday cake . Would anyone care to hazard a guess what it might be?

Up close and personal with a suspected Thynnus zonatus . Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, Hobart, October 2010. Theme Thursday you say? Do you still do posts on Hobart Show Day? What can my theme today be? Let me spin the WHEEL... INEXORABLE Very appropriate. One easily conjures up the INEXORABLE march of con artists, charlatans, flim-flam men, swindlers, fakes and fraudsters. The show? Add it to my list! Vespula germanica or Thynnus zonatus , YOU decide. Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, Hobart, October 2010.

Gearing up for Henry's birthday, let's remember Ezra's from back in July. Don't expect the balloons Hank...

Afternoon sun over Geilston Bay (as seen through a gum). East Derwent Highway, Geilston Bay. October 2010. I think that I forgot to post. Oops. Can you tell that I've been busy?

One day, Henry is going to be taller than this Stringybark. One day.

Another ad from those pesky Chinese Communists. This time though, I want you to guess or deduce what this little girl is endeavoring to get the Chinese proletariat to do (or not do, as the case may be). So have a look, have a think, and then highlight over the lines below to see the answer. Please do not spit freely. Spitting freely is neither hygienic nor civilized. How did you do? You're welcome to tell me in the comments if you got it right (or spectacularly wrong).

Ezra points out a blackwood tree amongst the gums. Tahune Air Walk, September 2010. I'm all about healthy kids, happy kids and confident kids. Part of the (not very-) secret to encouraging the HCC kids trifecta is through modelling good behaviour . Thus, when word went around my workplace that volunteers were required for the challenging and fast-paced game of Touch Football, the guilty part of my conscience realised that I might have the best (as in easiest ) chance to model good behaviour in terms of "engagement in organised sport". So, last night I had my very first game in the Southern Touch League (Division SEVEN ). Henry and Ezra (plus Jen) came along as cheerleaders and moral support. They were also useful in scraping me off the floor at the end of the game. The most important lesson that I learned is that my fitness levels could do with some improving. I also figured out - about three-quarters into the second half - that it is better to run diagonally than in stra...

There's such a lot to do. Sorting out these shells is just the start of it...

Looking up towards the light. East Derwent Highway, Geilston Bay. October 2010. You may not have noticed, but I have been experimenting with the blog template just a wee bit. I'm not quite satisfied with it as it stands, so may make a few amendemnts over the coming days. I've gone with a seventies vibe, for reasons only known to Ezra.

Duplo blocks are really the most excellent materials with which to construct a stairway to heaven .

I'm not going rafting up the Picton River. Tahune Forest, September 2010. If anyone knows how one might best alter the tone and inflection of my elder son's carping, answers on a postcard please... Which brings me to today's Sunday Top Five ! Today, we're cataloguing Henry's Top Five Complaints! Yes, for a fellow still not four years old, Cranky Hanky has a long list of grievances that he likes, nay, needs , to share on a regular basis. " IT'S NOT FAIR !" " YOU DON'T DO ANYTHING FOR ME !" " NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !" " GET OFF ME EZZIE !" " STOP TALKING TO ME !" I'm still not going rafting up the Picton River. Tahune Forest, September 2010.