This will hurt me...

Big Hen considers shipbuilding as a trade.

Winter in Hobart. Mount Wellington, as seen from Davey Street, Hobart. July 2013. Baby, it's COLD outside! The Chimney Sweeper: A little black thing among the snow , William Blake A little black thing among the snow, Crying "weep! 'weep!" in notes of woe! "Where are thy father and mother? say?" "They are both gone up to the church to pray. Because I was happy upon the heath, And smil'd among the winter's snow, They clothed me in the clothes of death, And taught me to sing the notes of woe. And because I am happy and dance and sing, They think they have done me no injury, And are gone to praise God and his Priest and King, Who make up a heaven of our misery."

Hartz Mountains National Park was been shaped by glaciers during past ice ages. Here we are walking up through the centre of the park to Lake Osborne, a small glacial lake reached by a walk through wet eucalypt forest, into alpine heath and then onto the lake itself. It was well worth the effort!

Duck feet (from below). Geilston Bay. July 2013. I'm back on the buses again, which ups the time I have to read. This is always nice. After The Wall , Jana Hensel: I'm always up for an East German generational memoir, which is Hensel's goal here. What differentiates this one from many of the others is that Hensel reflects on the very last of that generation, those that were at the tail end of their childhood at the fall of the Berlin Wall and whose teenage years coincided with the process of reunification. I'm not certain that this translation helped (it was packed full of jarring Americanisms), but was an interesting-enough reflection. C . Grendel , John Gardner: A fascinating novel that retells the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf from the perspective of the monster and - quite successfully - explores (among other things) the nature of good and evil; man's capacity for violence; finding meaning in the world; and the power of literature and myth. I really enj...

I know that it is something to do with computers...

Boat race? The Derwent Estuary, as seen from Napoleon Street, Battery Point. July 2013. Theme Thursday ? SPACE? Object. ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ →                                                                        ← ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ Object.

Say "Roquefort"!