The Brick House

Saturday 26

• Dan: in bed with a cold most of the day
• Hugh: played Rust
• Hugh: helped me make dinner (tofu “fish” fingers)

Sunday 27

• Hugh: play date at Philip’s house
• Dan: finished their research for Litha (last Festival in their grimoire), did some art to illustrate the festivals
• Hugh: made chicken risotto for dinner (with Eric)

Monday 28

• Hugh: playing Rust, Cosmoteer
• Hugh: sent a list of tools etc useful for cosplay/prop-making
• Dan: worked on their application for the Premier’s Youth Advisory Council
• Hugh: started 10 minutes a day handwriting practice with me
• Hugh: afternoon in the kitchen, planning desserts for Bealtaine feast on Friday, and making GF veg*n sausage rolls, GF naan and malai koftas for dinner
• Dan: started making malai koftas, decided they were too sick/tired/muddle-headed to understand the recipe and too anxious about stuffing it up so Hugh took over from them about halfway through, because he is awesome

Tuesday 29

• Dan: discussed article in the Guardian on Albo’s speech about ALP’s new climate=jobs pivot (conclusion: sounds promising please don’t fuck it up)
• Dan: reading a new horror manga, Junji Ito’s Uzumaki, which they are greatly enjoying, and also getting ideas for the horror story they are writing (after Tansy’s workshop)
• Hugh: 10 minutes handwriting practice

Wednesday 30

• Hugh: telling me more about various ant species he’s been learning about (I still think ants are horrifying)
• Hugh: I messaged Tina re possibly meeting up at open day at Huonville Pool on Saturday (no go)
• Dan: no singing lesson (no voice)
• Hugh: no after school activity (coming down with the family cold)
• Hugh and Dan: cooking ahead for Friday – made lilac syrup (for fizz)

Thursday 31

• Dan: working on identifying intervals in various pieces of music; we practiced using film soundtracks (eg. Star Wars, Harry Potter) then discussed how they all seem to use the same ones, lol
• Geeveston Halloween

Friday 1

• Hugh: no swimming lesson (no instructor this week)
• Dan: talked about spending the week binge-watching music theory videos (gave Sideways, Tantacrul, Adam Neely, Andrew Huang as some favourite channels)
• family Bealtaine celebration (no bonfire as requested by Dan, total fire ban and also raining)
• Hugh and Dan: made vegan cheesecakes; helped make potato salad and rhubarb-apple crumble; provided lilac lemon fizz at dinner
• Dan: decorated table, made willow crowns

Saturday

• Dan: UTAS Voice Day masterclass with Helen Thomson

Sunday

• Dan: student recital

Monday

• Hugh: made hazelnut coffee vegan fudge with me (not entirely sucessfully)
• Hugh: made GF vegan naan to have at curry night

Tuesday

• Dan: started working on an online grimoire, researching the Sabbats

Wednesday

• Dan: Headspace appointment
• Dan: no singing lesson
• Dan: working on their online grimoire
• Hugh: after school activity, PHSAC

Thursday

• Dan: working on their online grimoire

Friday

• Dan: working on their online grimoire
• Dan & Hugh: Hobart Show, Hugh taught visiting kids how to boffer fight; Dan and Hugh participated in the evening demo
• Hugh: no swimming due to Show

Saturday 12

• Dan: full day at Pride Camp

Sunday 13

• Dan: last day of Pride Camp; Mum and Dad came up for lunch and presentation; Dan led the campers in a performance of Riptide (voice and guitar)
• Hugh: went to Philip’s house for the day

Monday 14

• Hugh: scheduled afternoon with Mum – we made GF vego sausage rolls and then tried very very hard not to devour the lot on the spot
  

Tuesday 15

Wednesday 16

• Dan: singing lesson
• Hugh: didn’t go to after school activity because he was delivering orange streamers and flyers around Geeveston for the community Halloween celebration
• Dan: went up to the House of Assembly to watch the debate of Rosalie Woodruff’s motion moving a moratorium on new thermal coal mines – it was amended into unrecognisability and passed by the Libs and ALP.

Thursday 17

• Hugh: scheduled time with Eric working on Halloween costumes
• Dan: painted Eric’s second head for his Zaphod Beeblebrox costume

Friday 18

• Hugh: group swim class (TBC)

Saturday 5

• Dan: painted a cloud picture

Sunday 6

Monday 7

• Dan: painted another cloud picture
• Dan and Hugh: helped us put together the new netted hoop house

Tuesday 8

• Hugh: played Metro
• Hugh: we worked on his plague doctor Halloween costume, I made a hood and we assembled all the accessories except the staff
• Hugh: made raw vegan zoodles with avocado cucumber sauce for lunch
• Hugh and Dan: went to op shop to look for new clothes
• Dan and Hugh: helped cook for curry night

Wednesday 9

• Hugh: Philip here for a sleepover, they went exploring and brought home some firewood from the gully

Thursday 10

• Hugh: more exploring with Philip
• Dan: went to see the Exit Left student production of Heathers the musical with Eric; now wants to look into attending Exit Left (Mum has offered to pay, since it’s $350 upfront for the term, but probably not til next year)

Friday 11

• Dan: headed up to Hobart with Eric to catch the Redline bus to Launceston for Pride Camp – turns out you need to book, and Eric didn’t. It was booked out, so he ended up having to drive them up.
• Hugh – currently researching the history of tanks; he’s also researching various lifeforms in one of his favourite online roleplaying games, Space Station 13

Saturday 28

• Dan: went up to Hobart (with Mum) to go to the No Religious Right To Discriminate rally; stayed in town to hang out with friends and came home on a later bus

Sunday 29

• Dan: performed in the Huon Valley Theatre/The Natural Voice Singing and Breathing Studio concert at Huonville Town Hall and blew everyone away

Monday 30

Tuesday 1

• Hugh: no swimming (school holidays)
• Hugh: told me about the Kurzgesagt ant video series he’s watching. Ants are horrifying.
• Dan: wrote and recorded a song, including learning how to sample another audio track with Audacity
  

Wednesday 2

• Dan: no singing (school holidays)
• Dan: learned a new song on guitar
• Hugh: no after-school activity (school holidays)
• Hugh: recorded a video, is learning how to use a new free editing software program
• Hugh: we talked about scheduling specific times for us to do Mum/Hugh and Dad/Hugh activities

Thursday 3

• Dan: had lunch with camp co-ordinator Xris and camp volunteer Kai at DS Cafe to talk about Pride Camp next weekend
• Dan: no roller derby
• Dan: second Children of the Aftermath session 4:30-7:30pm (in conjunction with Geeveston Twilight Feast)
• Hugh: went for a morning walk with me
• Hugh: watched Kurzgesagt videos about the sun
• Hugh: went to Geeveston Twilight Feast with Eric
• Hugh: did chemistry with Eric
• Hugh: discovered the Rejected Princesses website has additional content which isn’t in the book, and is enjoying reading new stories and short comics

Friday 4

• Dan: travelled to Launceston for the final CCYP Youth Ambassador meeting, with state political leaders – a very long day, leaving home before 6am
• Dan: we paid for creative writing workshop on Monday
• Hugh: went for a morning walk with me
• Hugh: working on his Halloween costume

Saturday

• Hugh: went to Canton Day with Eric
• Dan: spent an hour or so with me in Geeveston for the Wizards Unite community day
• Dan: asked a question about ants falling from heights, apparently the internet has asked this one too as they found quite a few discussions
• Hugh: did the last four Discovery Garden kits with me
• Dan: learning to do the washing up with Eric – apparently they would rather do that than the putting away (not gonna argue)
• Hugh and Dan: I sent links to various activities listed on Eventbrite – need to follow up

Sunday

• Hugh and Dan: collaboratively produced a pasta bake for dinner

Monday

• Hugh: menu planning with Daddy
• Hugh: working on the family cook book he is editing

Tuesday

• Hugh: tried booking him into the Makerspace stop motion animation workshop in November but it’s full; added him to the wait list. He decided he didn’t want to do the Makerspace wind chime workshop but that he liked the idea of making one at home for Dan as a Christmas present
• Hugh: swimming lesson – last individual one, will discuss future options re teaching, maybe even just going swimming each week at the same time
• Hugh: finished editing and printing out his last dozen cook book recipes
• Hugh: established his new server with Eric
• Dan: was lead chef and cooked laksa for dinner (with assistance from Hugh as kitchen hand)
• Dan and Hugh: discussion with Eric on how to conjugate irregular verb “to yeet”, which digressed into a long word-nerd discussion
• Dan: working on producing a resume with Eric, to drop into Salamanca Fresh tomorrow (they are hiring – I checked and the manager is fine with 14yo applicants)

Wednesday

• Dan: Headspace appointment
• Dan: dropped off resume to Salamanca Fresh
• Dan: singing lesson
• Hugh: after school activity
• Hugh: made beef kofta curry for dinner

Thursday

• Dan: roller derby
• Dan: Silver Words

Friday

• did we do anything? I can’t remember…

Saturday 14th

• Dan: we made a time on Wednesday to discuss with Eleanor how we can aim to support Dan achieving their aims in the next 15 months
• Dan: did their shift as one of the Children of the Aftermath and loved it; although there weren’t a lot of patrons to interact with, they had lots of fun with the crew (and they got a free RIOT hoodie)
• Dan: wants to start doing dance in pursuit of their passion for musical theatre, so I investigated the local options – will contact Studio42 to find out about their theatrical dance classes
• Hugh: helped Eric put a new drive in his computer, which also turned into redoing a lot of the internal wiring because it had been put in badly
• Hugh: made Thai Baked Sweet Potatoes for dinner

Monday 16th

• Hugh: sent me a list of ingredients collated from all the recipes he and Eric had found when they did their menu planning

Tuesday 17th

• Hugh: swimming lesson – last individual lesson for the time being as his instructor is moving up to Huonville pool(?). He is proud that he is learning how to deal with his fears around putting his head under and developing a mental routine to make it less stressful for him

Wednesday 18th

• Hugh: discussed why “mong” is ableist (and racist) and suggested substituting “nong” instead if he wants a satisfying but non-profane insult
• Dan: singing lesson, long discussion with Eleanor about ways forward to help Dan pursue their study goals
• Hugh: after school activity, PHSAC
• Hugh: cooked hamburgers, and black bean burgers for Dan; deliberately made extras for lunches

Thursday 19

• Dan: roller derby
• Hugh and Dan: made vegetarian lasagne (Dan has more experience making white sauce than Hugh, so they did that bit)

Friday 20

• Dan: went up (on the bus) to the Climate Strike, with mum
• Hugh: cooked pork roast for dinner, learned how to use a meat thermometer

Saturday 7th

• Dan: went down to Geeveston with me to play Wizards Unite for the dragons event; also engaged with the artwork, the Aftermath Dislocation Principle, which was installed yesterday outside Baker&Co as part of Project X to provide a tourism focus in the aftermath of the fires, and had afternoon tea at the patisserie
• Hugh: prepped teriyaki chicken for sushi tomorrow night and cooked barbequed chicken sandwiches for dinner tonight – a not entirely successful recipe (the toppings fell out and his GF bun disintegrated, but the chicken was tasty so he enjoyed that)

Sunday 8th

• Dan: went to a workshop inducting local Children of the Aftermath to help people engage with the artwork for a couple of days during its stay in Geeveston (unfortunately the second date clashes with the Youth Ambassador meeting in October); filled in permission form so we could scan and return it
• Hugh: helped Eric prepare sushi for dinner

Monday 9th

• Hugh: we discussed how to make his winged hourglass staff. We found a C17th engraving of a plague doctor and some info which said the staff was used more like a rod for pointing out things, giving directions, and maybe moving clothing, so it doesn’t have to be substantial enough to be a walking stick. I found him the ankle-length coat, cross on a long chain, small Bible (actually my Book of Common Prayer), candle lantern and small jars to be filled with aromatic herbs and put in a bandolier that he asked for. Also discussed how to make the flat-topped, wide-brimmed black hat and close-fitting black hood which he needs.
• Dan: sent off volunteer registration form

Tuesday 10th

• Hugh: worked in the garden with me and Eric – helped Eric make the new trellis, but his biggest contribution was planting the potato patch by himself
• Hugh: swimming lesson – seems to have made a breakthrough in swimming with his head under water – yay!
• Dan: asked about French endearments, I found them this article: https://www.fluentu.com/blog/french/french-terms-of-endearment/
• Dan: no boxing for fitness, they don’t want to jeopardise their fitness for roller derby this week

Wednesday 11th

• Dan: singing lesson – discussed wanting to get into auditions with Eleanor and came up with some strategies; also moving to 45 minute lessons instead of 30 mins (starting at 2:30 in future)
• Dan: drawing a very complex digital fan art piece based on their favourite web series
• Hugh: working on mock-up for plague doctor mask with Eric

Thursday 12th

• Dan: still working on their digital fan art piece
• Dan: finally made it to roller derby – yay!
• Hugh: went to the library with Eric
• Hugh: gave up on making a plague doctor mask and ordered one on eBay; kept working on other elements of the costume
• Hugh: cooked chicken risotto for dinner

Friday 13th

• Hugh: spent a while explaining the SCP collective fiction universe to me
• Dan: finished their complex fan art piece and put it on Tumblr, where it was appreciated by one of the members of the web series it was based on
• Dan: wanted to look more into the options for Yr 11 & 12 so we did some research and came up with a potential course outline focusing on music, drama and musical theatre, aiming towards tertiary study, and employing the AMEB exam and University Connections Program pathways; we now have a list of things to talk to Eleanor about focusing on, and a plan to get Dan involved in auditioning for everything possible and networking as much as we can
• Hugh: began reading Horribly Famous: Alexander the Great and his claim to fame

Saturday 31st

• Dan: went to the Castle Forbes Bay Recreation Club’s Music Trivia Night as a member of the Canton’s team

Sunday 1st

• Hugh: cooked Eric a Big Breakfast for Father’s Day, working around shortages of key ingredients (although they did have sausages, which they don’t usually have)
• Dan: attended mics and lights workshop, Huonville Town Hall 1-4pm; caught bus home
• Hugh: cooked Eric Chicken Risotto for Father’s Day

Monday 2nd

• Hugh: helped unload and stack new wood delivery; helped me remove the trellis on raised bed #4
• Dan: hung out all the laundry and brought in dry
• Dan: helped me plant the new quince and nashi trees
• Dan: made a list of goals regarding job/attending college/moving out of home/saving goals
• Dan: discussed with me what they specifically felt they were lacking in re their maths education (basic life skills), I pulled out a Maths 4 Life workbook I had stashed away and they started working on teaching themselves how to do percentages; I have found a more up to date/detailed “Game of Life” maths workbook to print out if they want to look through that as well.
• Hugh: helped me cook dinner

Tuesday 3rd

• Dan: illustrated a zine for the Artfully Queer group poems entry
• Dan: worked on percentages in their workbook
• Hugh: Eric bought him the heat gun he’s been asking for to work on making props from foam etc, but now he needs to find the time to sit down and go through the instruction booklet and supervise Hugh in using it safely
• Hugh: swimming lesson: succeeded in keeping his whole head underwater for 5 seconds, and then his face under, and is very proud of himself, it is gradually getting easier and less intimidating

Wednesday 4th

• Hugh: helped Eric completely tidy and rearrange the mudroom so it was safe to use the heat gun in there, then experimented with various different kinds of foam and poly pipe etc
• Dan: no singing lesson due to illness
• Hugh: after school activity at PHSAC

Thursday 5th

• Dan:went to Huonville with Eric to look for materials for Halloween costume
• Dan: no roller derby – off sick
• D&H: went down to the Geeveston Twilight Feast with Eric

Friday 6th

• Hugh: went down to op shop with Eric to look for makings for Halloween costume, then to GeCo for a house call
• Dan: I sent them an article regarding another historical woman who lived as a man: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/1991/03/24/clothes-make-the-man/3e848d96-ff77-4f03-b2b2-2ddfdad6e80d/
• Hugh: worked on one of the props for his Halloween costume (cut a winged hourglass out of foam for the end of his plague doctor staff)
• Dan: Artfully Queer exhibition opening, Salamanca Arts Centre, 6pm (we dragged Hugh along because of the weather, but he had no interest in the art so went off with Eric after ten minutes and had dinner at a local Vietnamese place)

Go back and fill this in.

Saturday 24

• Hugh: Spent some time working on a thing with the Boy. He wants to set up a server using a system called BYOND, which basically acts as a host for computer games. The plan is: install the daemon on a Linux box, either real or virtual, run the daemon with input from a game file downloaded from a github project, and point your domain name in the right direction so people can play. So we worked on that. First, I built him a VMWare virtual machine and showed him how to set everything up. Pointed the DNS to it and it worked fine, despite the sometimes useless instructions. But I wasn’t about to leave VMWare running on that machine when I already need it for other stuff, so I tried setting him up with my old web host, nearlyfreespeech.net. We got it nearly all working before I discovered it uses BSD instead of Linux, and the binaries for the Daemon are Linux-only, so that was no good. So I got him a Linode instead, but I got stuck there because I have no idea how to configure it. Tomorrow I’ll take a look at the quite excellent help files and we’ll be set

Sunday 25

• Dan: has been in musical nerd mode: sent me this video on Westside Story which they have been watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQlgiO29QT4&feature=youtu.be
• Dan: sent me an article on Aaron Burr’s secret family of colour: https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/08/24/aaron-burr-villain-hamilton-had-secret-family-color-new-research-shows/?outputType=amp
• Hugh: I set up that Linode with the Boy, and then made him a deal. It’s going to cost about US$5 a month, which is about a week’s pocket money, but if it’s an educational expense then I won’t charge him for it, naturally. So I made him a deal: show me that you’re learning something and I won’t dock your pocket money for your server. I decided to give him some challenges, around the general topic of Linux, and if he figures out how to do them then he’s learning. The first one was simple:1. Log in to the server as yourself.
  2. Create a text file called hello.txt, containing a suitable greeting.
  3. Use a Windows FTP program to download the file.He went and googled instructions, and came back with a puzzle: he’d produced a file that looks like this, but it wasn’t working. Apparently his tutorial video hadn’t quite explained the difference between the “hello world” script and the command you type afterward to make it run. I showed him that, and he got the hang of it. By the end of a half-hour lesson on basic Linux, he’d learned about a dozen commands and had succeeded at lesson one and then some. I might need to find a beginner tutorial myself so I can figure out what to teach him next!

Monday 26

Tuesday 27

• Hugh: Took the Boy to GeCo today to take part in the making of a Salvadoran dish, pupusas, made with cornmeal so they’re gluten free. The cook ended up roping in half the Stitch & Giggle group, so we ended up with quite a crowd for lunch, and it was all very pleasant. She also brought bread & butter pudding, which the Boy tried some of (cashing in his GF exception for the week) and apparently enjoyed
• Hugh: swimming lesson

Wednesday 28

• Dan: singing lesson
• Hugh: after school activity
• Family: Beth flew home

Thursday 29

• Dan: Silver Words Open Mic – farewell to Tom who has stepped down as convenor/MC
• Hugh: Tonight, the Boy and I were going to watch the next (depressing) episode of Buffy, but he suggested we do some more programming first. He’s getting the hang of using the Python REPL and the Linux shell, and isn’t letting himself get terminally flustered when he does something to produce one of Guido’s excessively verbose error messages. I had to grimace a bit when his googling for a memory jogger about the function definition syntax led him to w3schools — I’ll have to find a slightly less quarter-arsed source of knowledge! But he’s sticking to it, which is good.

Friday 30

• Hugh: milkshake date at the Patisserie