Janetti Spaghetti : A Blog by Janet Camilleri

Janet is Cool at Last!

March 1, 2021 By admin Leave a Comment

“A person’s name is to that person, the sweetest, most important sound in any language.”

This famous quote is attributed to Dale Carnegie, but I never fully understood it until recently.

We’ve been watching a Netflix series called The Good Place on Netflix, and there is not one, but TWO characters, called JANET. One is ‘Good Janet’ and the other is ‘Bad Janet’ and I love them both.

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It was the husbear who noticed. “You’re loving this, aren’t you?” he commented one night – and it’s true, I was practically bouncing on the spot with glee every time one of the Janets did something cool or funny (which is often).

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I’m not sure what it’s like where you live, but Janet isn’t exactly a common name in my neck of the woods, although I did come across a Janette or two (totally not the same).

In fact I didn’t meet a single other Janet until I went to teacher’s college and suddenly there were four of us in my year, and one of them was a good friend so we were often together. It got a little confusing when somebody yelled out “Janet!” in the cafeteria and all four of us would look up!

Famous Janets

Even when it comes to famous Janets, there hasn’t really been much to inspire me:

Janet Jackson (singer)
Janet Evanovich (author)
Janet Leigh (actress in Psycho)

I’ve heard that there has been a famous Janet or two in US politics: Janet Yellen and Janet Reno, but being an Aussie, they don’t mean anything to me.

Even book, movie and TV characters have been pretty ordinary.

Remember the Rocky Horror Picture Show (fun fact: I’ve never watched it). If I had a dollar for every time somebody started singing “Dammit Janet … ” (that’s usually as far as they got), I’d be an extremely wealthy woman.
There’s an ABC TV series called Janet King about a lawyer – I’ve never watched it.
And when it comes to books, if you come across a Janet they are usually plain, boring and frumpy.

I even searched for a picture of “Janet” on my stock photo account, and got, this:

Potted Dracaena janet craig, Dragon plant or Water Stick Plant

Apparently it’s a plant called Dracaena Janet Craig.

Janet is Cool!

And now … Janet is Cool!

I can’t tell you how excited I am about this!

In case you’ve never watched The Good Place, let me fill you in without giving away any of the plot lines: there’s a good place (heaven) and a bad place (hell). Each has their own version of Janet, a walking, talking, database in human form (though she is careful to point out that she is #notarobot #notaperson).

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Played by D’Arcy Carden, the Janets provides a lot of the comedy value in the series. JANET IS COOL AT LAST!!! (yes I’m shouting!)

Every time Janet is on the screen, I can’t help but smile.

If you’d like to see more, here are some of the more memorable Janet quotes on Buzzfeed:

Have you watched The Good Place? Do you have a famous namesake that makes you proud to share a moniker?!

Meet the #worldsworstcat

February 22, 2021 By admin 9 Comments

Let me begin with the disclaimer that we love Miss Fleur dearly, and she is thoroughly spoiled and pampered every single day (I’ve said before that she wears the pants in this family!).

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However, she has quite a few little quirks and foibles that we think put her in the running for the title of “World’s Worst Cat”.

Cats are known for some not-so-desirable traits – like being aloof, occasionally unleashing their claws on their unsuspecting hoomans, and annoying the neighbours by leaving deposits in their garden beds.

cat scratch

But Fleur has some that are … well, uniquely FLEUR.

Where to begin?!

1. No Cuddles Allowed

Miss Fleur is definitely NOT a lap cat; she hates being picked up and cuddled.

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She will occasionally tolerate a brief cuddle from me (as her hooman mummy and favourite family member) but that’s about it.

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However having said that, she adores pats and love first thing in the morning as you can see in the pic above!

In Winter, she will occasionally sit on your lap … but it’s pretty rare.

sitting on daddys lap

2. Cat Snot

I have never met a cat with such a wet nose.

The thing is, she likes to rub her nose on the closest hooman at every opportunity.

cat on bed

Some might see this as a gesture of love, but we’re pretty sure it’s her way of wiping her nose (as she’s never learned how to use a tissue). This leaves ‘cat snot’ to dry into a sticky, crusty patch on the recipient hooman’s leg / face / hand … pretty gross.

When I was a girl we had a cat that drooled incessantly, but this is whole next level!

3. Cover that Poop Please!

I’ll spare you the photo of this one!

Our #furbaby #fleurbaby was orphaned at just two weeks old, so this little habit might be because her mummy never taught her to cover her poop.

In the nearly seven years since we’ve adopted her, she’s probably only buried her poop in her litter tray a half a dozen times in total. The unfortunate thing for us – as her hooman housemates – is that her litter tray is located in our laundry, which we need to walk through to get to the downstairs bathroom.

It’s not something you ever get used to, it stinks – and I’m pretty sure our visitors find it quite confronting!

4. Bullying

She might look dainty and petite, and like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, but Miss Fleur was quite the bully when we attempted to introduce Seth into our household a few years ago. We tried everything the ‘experts’ suggested, to no avail. Poor old Seth was traumatised.

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Her worst bullying tactic? Guarding the litter tray/s so he was scared to use them, and when he did brave it, she would glare and growl at him.

Clearly, Miss Fleur prefers being an ‘only’ cat.

Seth now lives mostly out on the patio (we’ve enclosed it with catnet), staring in wistfully at us in the family room through the glass sliding door. (Mr 26 wants to take him when he eventually moves to a new apartment which has room to swing the proverbial cat – Seth went stir crazy in his tiny unit, hence why he is now back ‘holidaying’ with us).

Seth is not amused

And on the odd occasion when Fleur and Seth are in the same place? If he comes into her territory, she attacks him; and if she goes out on his patio, he attacks her!

And yet, for all that, they do spend quite a bit of time together, lounging on either side of the slider; it’s almost like they enjoy each other’s company.

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5. She Fancies Feet

Most people think of cats as these adorable creatures that love nothing better than to curl up and sleep on their owner’s bed at night.

sitting on our bed

We learned very quickly that this definitely wasn’t going to work with our Miss Fleur. The slightest twitch under the covers and she attacks!

the culprit

In fact, she has her own bed in the laundry … but it doesn’t matter, we don’t even have to be in our bed for her to go into attack mode. It hasn’t done our bedspread much good. I bought it less than 12 months’ ago, and it is now covered with pulls, holes, and loose threads …

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#worldsworstcat evidence

6 – She Chews Boxes

Fleur just can’t resist cardboard or boxes – she has to chew them into bits, making a heck of a mess which her long-suffering mummy then has to clean up!

messy feur

Perhaps I should be collecting all the bits, it would make great confetti for Miss 24’s wedding later this year …

7 – She Never Comes When She’s Called!

I know people say that this applies to ALL cats, but that’s not been our experience, having owned a few. Even Seth comes when he is called. But not Miss Fleur. Ohhh no, she is too high and mighty for that!

Sometimes I think she is the sort of cat that gives all kitties a bad name!

Of course, you know I say all this in jest. Fleur may not be the perfect kitty, but she’s our kitty and we love her to bits 🙂 .

Do you think she could be in the running for #worldsworstcat?!

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Six Degrees in South-East Queensland!

February 15, 2021 By admin Leave a Comment

South east Queensland has a sub-tropical climate, so you might be surprised to learn that two or three degrees is actually the norm.

And having lived here all my life, I know what I’m talking about 😉 .

welcome to south east queensland — Ahhh Queensland … beautiful one day, stinking hot the next LOL

The husbear and I live on the outskirts of Brisbane (or Bris-Vegas as it is affectionately called by locals), a city of roughly two and a half million. It’s surrounded by several satellite cities – such as Redlands (where we are), Logan, Ipswich, Moreton Bay, and the Gold and Sunshine Coasts – and the area is collectively known as south-east Queensland.

Be Careful Who You Bag!

I can’t say for certain about the other towns, but here in the Redlands it feels like a very small community. When going to networking events for example, it pays to be cautious about what you say, because chances are that the person you’re ~~bagging~~ talking about, is your listener’s sister / neighbour / workmate / friend – oops!

Just in the last couple of years at networking functions, I’ve met and chatted to:

a gal who went to the same high school (on the other side of the city);
a woman who knew my mother-in-law from her old home town (3 hours’ drive away);
the daughter-in-law of the man who was my boss back in the day (before I went on maternity leave to have Mr 26) – in fact, I remember her husband as a toddler!

It’s not just here in the Redlands, it seems to be a common theme here in south-east Queensland.

We Haven’t ‘Met the Parents’ But …

When Mr 26 began dating his better half last year, her surname was surprisingly familiar, even though she grew up in another part of the ‘great south-east’. And for good reason! Turns out, the husbear used to work in the same office in the city as her mother (long before any of us had kids) … and he knows ‘of’ her father through his current workplace!

Perhaps we shouldn’t be so surprised, after all they do say that there is only six degrees of separation between every person on planet earth. That is, if you were to pick a random individual on the other side of the world, chances are that your hairdresser (1 degree) used to date a guy (2 degrees) who worked with another guy (3 degrees) who played basketball with another fellow (4 degrees) and that fellow’s sister (5 degrees) goes to a regular yoga class … with that first random individual (6 degrees).

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon

There was a meme that did the rounds a few years ago, “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”. At the time there was a joke that anybody in Hollywood knew actor Kevin Bacon (remember “Footloose”?!) or knew somebody who did (more like two degrees if you ask me!).

So I got to thinking about how “I” – a mere nobody from the other side of the world – might be connected to Kevin Bacon. Would the six degrees theory hold true?

The best place to start would be with any showbiz connections I might have, and I immediately thought of two:

About ten years ago I worked with a woman who was in the wardrobe department of Australian sitcom “Hey Dad” back in the late 80’s / early 90’s (just an aside – she said it was well known that the “Dad” – Robert Hughes – was not to be left alone with young females, something he is now serving time for all these years later).
I also used to work with the wife of one of the actors from the long running TV show “Blue Heelers”.

Imagine if I could keep tracing it back! It’s definitely possible that there is only six degrees of separation between this lil blogger and at least one Hollywood star 🙂 . I guess we’ll never know for sure …

How do you think you could be connected to Kevin Bacon?!

A Sentence A Day: January 2021

February 1, 2021 By admin Leave a Comment

So here we are my friends: a new year; new opportunities; new business name; and a new blog!

Turns out there’s a lot of work to be done behind the scenes if you want to start a new blog and shift your audience over from the old one.

Plus, I’m also in the process of changing and rebranding my business too – from Front Page Web Writing to Front Page SEO (if you wanted to give it a like on Facebook, I wouldn’t say no!), which more accurately reflects the type of services provided.

As a result I’ve been spending a lot of time working on things like websites, logos, and the like – and the tech doesn’t always cooperate. But we’ll get there!

Both changes have been brewing for quite a while but I finally decided that the task would never get any easier, so best to just dive on in!

Here’s what else has been happening …

January 2021

1 January – After our non-eventful New Year’s and lack of celebrations, it’s probably no surprise to learn that New Year’s Day was also nothing out of the ordinary. I spent some time on the computer renewing my driver’s licence, booking a doctor’s appointment, writing a blog post … oh and I booked a last minute getaway for my birthday next week!

2 January – We had a full house! My sister and niece came to stay for the weekend, along with their fur baby Willow (much to the disgust of Fleur and Seth, LOL). The kids all stopped by, and in the midst of the madness, a bird landed on Mr 26’s shoulder … somebody had obviously lost their pet cockatiel, so we were busy posting on social media trying to locate its owner.

3 January – After all the talking I did yesterday, I found I was quite hoarse. In the last couple of years I’ve noticed that if I talk a lot, I get a sore, strained throat – not sure what that’s about?!

4 January – Officially: I’m on holidays. Unofficially: I still had some invoicing and other tasks to take care of.

5 January – A trip to Toowoomba to visit the in-laws, and the beginning of celebrating my birthday with a pavlova for afternoon tea!

6 January – Spent the morning packing (oh and the cockatiel’s owner came and collected him!) and then headed down the Coast – our unit is right in the heart of Surfers Paradise 🙂 .

7 January – I had a brilliant birthday! We slept in and had breakfast on our balcony overlooking the surf, before doing a bit of shopping to get my birthday present from the husbear. We couldn’t decide which handbag or purse to get so in the end he gave me THREE! We had lunch at Grill’d, followed by a relaxing nana nap and then a long beach walk. Back at our resort we enjoyed an evening swim before heading out for a lovely dinner and a strawberry dacquiri for me 🙂 .

8 January – We woke to the news that there had been community transmission of coronavirus in one of the quarantine hotels, so Brisbane was going into a snap three-day lockdown from 6pm. It was very sad to have to come home, though we might have stopped in at Ikea on the way 😉 . We were home in the early afternoon, and Mr 26 arrived as he wanted to spend lockdown with us (he lives alone).

9 January – I’m a bit of a homebody it’s true, but it feels different when you CAN’T go anywhere, as opposed to not wanting to go anywhere. We kept ourselves amused by playing board games and kelly pool.

10 January – I started the Harry Potter puzzle Mr 26 gave me for Christmas while the boys cooked dinner!

11 January – The husbear is back at work, even if it is in our own home; and I took the Christmas tree down. Lockdown lifted at 6pm, though wearing masks any time you are outside of your own home is essential for the next 2 weeks (PS masks and earrings don’t mix!).

12 January – Starting to get back into a routine, with my first session with Fit With Sally for 2021; in the evening we were intrigued by a TV show called Outback Opal Hunters, which inspired fond memories of our time in opal country (Coober Pedy) as part of our Great Australian Adventure in 2001 – can’t believe it’s 20 years this year!

13 January – Still hadn’t caught up with Miss 24 and her man for my birthday due to lockdown so it was lovely to have them over for pizza and pool, and of course I was spoilt with presents!

14 January – The cat sat on the mat.

15 January – The husbear has been working all week and I spent most of the week at my desk too, working “on” my business and not “in” it – doing some planning, setting up new forms and processes ready for the year ahead!

16 January – Some new books to read after a trip to the library; and we started watching the Netflix series Bridgerton.

17 January – Miss 24 came over and we hung out, doing girly things like our nails and watching the rest of Bridgerton.

18 January – First “official” day back at work, finished off with a storm at sunset which dumped over 100mm (approx 4 inches!) of rain in an hour – luckily we live on a hill!

19 January – Boxing and business coaching! Sally says I’m a “natural” at boxing … I’m tickled pink, I’ve never been good at any form of exercise or sport.

20 January – It’s time! I registered my new business name, Front Page SEO (rather than Front Page Web Writing), which more accurately reflects the services provided. And here’s a pic of our morning tea 😉 .

21 January – Indulged in a little bit of online shopping, ordered two dresses.

22 January – We finished the work week with a BBQ dinner on our deck.

23 January – Caught up with my parents over dinner at Mado’s Turkish restaurant, and they gave me some lovely birthday presents. Oh, and don’t you just love how my top matches the tablecloth LOL?!

24 January – Visited Miss 24 and her man and had lots of cuddles with the grandkitties.

25 January – I finished my latest puzzle!

26 January – Australia Day public holiday – we hadn’t planned anything, but ended up having a lovely BBQ lunch on the deck with all the kids – this was my view!

27 January – My first water walk of the year; and, I met with my potential new part-time team member for the first time!

28 January – Unwound in the evening watching a show about Kensington Palace, helped to fill in some gaps in my knowledge of British history (mostly gleaned from romance novels anyway, let’s be honest!).

29 January – My legs felt like jelly after an intense workout with my PT!

30 January – A lovely way to start the weekend with a massage, using the gift voucher Mr 26 gave me for Christmas 🙂 .

31 January – The kids came for dinner 🙂 .

And so endeth the month of January 2021. Roll on February!

Joining up with the Lovin’ Life Linky at Deep Fried Fruit