Moochness

2006-03-30T13:50:00.000+08:00

Feeling rageful

This makes me so fucking angry. The Federal government refuses to recognise that the concept of marriage can extend to same sex relationships, so the ACT government decides to legislate to allow civil unions between gay couples, so that they have the same rights as heterosexual couples. And so, the Federal government feels it has to step in to prevent this travesty from happening.

And Philip Ruddock's circular argument??

The law prescribes what a marriage is, and you don't work through a civil relationship, which we know and understand the States and Territories can deal with, to suggest that it is the equivalent of a marriage, when it's not.

In other words, 'the law' says that marriage can only be between a man and a woman. Therefore, you can't have 'civil unions' allowing people the same rights, because then it would just be marriage under another name. And dammit, gay people can't get married!

Bigoted, homophobic, narrow-minded asshats. They're running our country, people!

2006-03-22T15:30:00.000+08:00

Oh, she wants to conquer the world completely

Phase 1: get some friends in high places. Y'know, as a hypothetical example, it would be useful to have a friend who might have access to, say, the Prime Minister, or one of his senior Ministers, and who could be brainwashed to perform a nice beheading tae kwon do maneuver to the tune of Relax... But unfortunately, male model friends can be a little hard to come by, so if perhaps you had a friend who was a doctor who might be about to move to Canberra to work closely with an aforementioned senior politician, and who might be able to have a positive influence on that politician, well, he or she might suffice. :)

Phase 2: find some adoring minions who will do your dirty work and fund your efforts to take over the universe. Hell, they might even set up a webring to celebrate your greatness*.

Phase 3: bring on the WORLD DOMINATION!! Bwahahahaha!

*Yes, I am the only Amie G in the world. Honest.

2006-03-21T14:50:00.000+08:00

Step into my office, baby

So I'm continuing with studies this year, and now that the uni semester has officially started, I've gone back to working 4 days a week instead of 5. The theory being that I'll use my extra day off to work on my thesis, so that I can get it all finished and handed in by the end of the year. Y'know, get stuck into lots of reading, narrow down the topic that I'm going to work on, have regular meetings with my supervisor and come up with a research proposal that I can flesh out as the year progresses.

Sounds good as a theory.

So yesterday afternoon, as I was conducting valuable scientific research while browsing through David Jones with my mother, a helpful sales assistant approached and admired the suit that I was looking at.

"Oh, that's a lovely suit", she said. "There are two different styles of pants available, these slimmer line ones and these more flowing ones. There are also two different jackets, and as you have a bigger bust*, you would probably want to go for the one-button rather than the two-button one."

Hee! A bigger bust!! Me!!! I could've hugged the sales assistant right then and there.

Being as I've never had such a compliment paid to me before, and am most unlikely to ever again unless I invest in some plastic surgery or an inflatable bra, I was determined to get as much mileage as possible out of my new status as well-endowed.

Mother: (holding up a top from Events) "Hmm, I love the colour of this top. And it's a pretty reasonable price, too - would be good for you for work. Although, the neckline might be a little low…"
Me: Ah, that's not a problem - us bigger-busted women can carry off tops like this easily! We've got so much cleavage to display!!

And

Me: clothes sizing is so hopelessly unpredictable. I bought a pair of pants the other day which were two sizes smaller than a shirt in exactly the same brand. How does that work?
Me: of course, it is most likely just that I have such an ample chest. I'm sure that's the cause of all my clothes sizing problems.

Ah yes, what wit!

The rest of my afternoon was amazingly productive. Do you know the best way to get something done that you've been putting off for ages and ages?? Find something that you want to do even less. Case in point: my car. I think the last time I washed it was about mid-2004… and yet, yesterday afternoon, it became imperative that I wash it RIGHT AWAY. That study I was supposed to be doing?? Pish, not nearly as important as getting my car clean this very instant!! Also, I had been inspired by hearing that the lovely Nads washes her car weekly...

And the results were amazing. The best part was the wheels - who knew that silver lurked somewhere under all that black??! It was like watching a beautiful butterfly emerge from its dull, grey and dusty cocoon.

Next Monday I'll be defrosting my fridge, or scrubbing out my oven, I'm sure.

*I refuse to consider the possibility that what she really meant was "you are quite broad across the back so this two-button jacket will look like crap on you". We all know that sales assistants are paid to be brutally honest to their customers, not to exaggerate the truth or flatter them!!

2006-02-16T16:37:00.000+08:00

Gone with the wind

I just read an SMH article that really gave my heart a wrench...

Lonely old lady dead in bed six months

A 79-year-old-woman's mail had been piling up at Umina Beach post office since last August.

When the post office alerted the police to check on her, they found the old lady's decomposed body in her bed .

Like the man found in Surry Hills, she had been laying there for some six months.

Isn't that the saddest thing ever? That she had no family, or friends, who were checking in on her, or thought it was strange that she hadn't rung them for a while... that noone tried to visit her for at least 6 months, and she died alone, without anyone to mourn her. Just awful.

I think that is one of my biggest fears in life - that I'll get to the end of it, and noone will notice that I'm gone... the world will keep on turning, and I'll be just another anonymous nobody, erased and forgotten like a chalk drawing washed away in the rain...

2006-02-15T09:34:00.000+08:00

Pick me! Pick me!

Poached from all and sundry over on Livejournal, the Johari Window - tell me which adjectives you think apply most to me, and compare it to how I perceive myself :) (There's also a Nohari Window, which lists negative traits - in the interests of my self-improvement, feel free to fill that one out too, anonymously or not, as you like).

Also, the best team name from the quiz night last night? "We put the 'sexy' in dyslexia". And close second goes to "Sex. Do it for the kids"

2006-02-06T12:54:00.000+08:00

Sockmonkey Magic

It's almost Oscars time again, and as per tradition, Kris is running her annual Oscars contest, with a prize of her own creation going to the person to guess the most Oscar winners correctly. Being one of those talented artsy and crafty people, the prize is always fantastic. But this year, Kris has outdone herself with creative genius - the prize is two gay sockmonkey cowboys, complete with cowboy hats and boots! Ennis and Jack - just too cute! So go enter!

2006-02-02T15:48:00.000+08:00

Are we there yet??

Graargh. I hate this time of the day at work - too late to get anything productive done, too early to think about going home yet, and it's always around now that I get the munchies... and my desk drawer contains nothing edible. It's probably a good thing that our work snack bar is depleted at the moment, or I'd be sorely tempted by some Twisties or a Picnic.

I've been stocking up on healthy snacks at home - those Snakata rice crackers are not too bad once you get used to them (the seaweed ones are 99% fat free!!), and pretzels are also pretty good. Must remember to bring some in to work tomorrow!

2006-01-30T10:35:00.000+08:00

Geek Love

Another quick post before I get into some rambling... Nadine pointed this site out to me a while ago, and there is some truly cool stuff there. Among my faves are the plush microbes, the marshmallow shooter, and of course the "Joss Whedon is my master now" t-shirt.

2006-01-20T11:25:00.000+08:00

Bullet the Blue Sky

Link courtesy of TJ - go read Iraqi Invasion: A Text Misadventure. Brilliant and hilarious, even if you've never played Zork or MUDDed.

2006-01-19T14:52:00.000+08:00

I Love Work

Well, it's been a super-productive day today... Lookee at my new layout!! Stay tuned for some actual content :)

2005-04-30T00:48:00.000+08:00

Since Allen asked so nicely...

I'm not convinced that anyone is still checking this here blog, but if you are, you'll be pleased to know that I am indeed still alive, and haven't been sucked through a portal into some alternate dimension. Nope, Oscar and I have been back in Perth for nearly 3 months now (Sheesh! How time flies!) but I've been incredibly bad at catching up with Perthlings, and with keeping in touch with the peeps back in Canberra and on the east coast (and in Christchurch, too - sorry Beth!). Partly because I am a Bad Person, but mostly because I have been ridiculously insanely busy since I got back here. Some developments in the last 3 months, in a rambly list (coz you know I love my lists!!):

1. Moved into my sis's place in Scarborough, which is Teh Awesome. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed living in share houses last year...but I am so loving having some space to myself...being able to be as much of a slob as I like, not having to make conversation when I'm feeling tired/grumpy/incoherent, and the fact that the food I put in the fridge STAYS THERE until I eat it - these are things that I heartily appreciate. Plus, I can walk to the beach in, like, 15 minutes - and although I've only made the trip a few times, I love being able to do it. (Beach = home to me - I missed it so much in Canberra!!)

2. Am working 3 days a week back at the law firm. Well, technically working 3 days - as in, I usually work 4-5 days, but get paid for 3. The work is quite different to what I was doing before - but it's pretty interesting, and I have a lot of autonomy, which is nice (but also scary, since I mostly don't know what the heck I'm doing!) I'm hopeful that the workload will ease off a bit soon. Although the fact that one of my supervisors has just taken off on 6 months' long service leave is not a good sign...

3. Am 2 months into the Forensic Science course, which has been FANTASTIC so far. Anyone who happened to be snooping in my freezer would think I'm a little deranged, as I have a bunch of frozen insects sitting in there at the mo - the alternative, healthy and crunchy snack! I have to hand in an insect collection in a few weeks' time, which involves thawing, pinning and arranging prettily on a styrofoam display. We have a field trip for the same unit (entomology) next weekend - we head out to the "Body Farm" (at a secret location in Perth, I kid you not) where they have a whole bunch of pig corpses in various stages of decomposition, and we have to collect insects (ie maggots, mostly) from a corpse and analyse them to determine for how long the pig has been dead. Mmm, I'm thinking I might skip breakfast that day...

And really, that's about the sum total of my life at the moment...I have classes for 2-3 hours every night Mon - Thurs, and usually all day Saturday plus the odd Sunday, and on my free days, I'm usually catching up on sleep, working on assignments and trying to be marginally domesticated. I occasionally wonder if I'm nuts to have taken on $11k of debt and a 40% paycut to be doing this (usually, these thoughts cross my mind when I'm falling out of bed at 5.45am to get to work in time to have a full day there before leaving at 5pm to get to uni...) but I'm sure it'll all be worth it in the end...right?? Right??!

I'll try my bestest to post again in less than 3 months' time, but if it's all silent on the Western front, you'll know why :)

2005-02-02T10:12:00.000+08:00

It's been a while...

Been terribly neglectful, I know - apologies for the lack of updates. No worthy excuses, just laziness and lack of motivation. So to catch you up on the last month or so of my life, here's the Cliff notes version:

Spent 10 days over Christmas and New Year's in Perth - beach, BBQs, a coupla dinners and a nice Somerville outdoor cinema picnic soiree
Back in Canberra, I received a letter of offer from UWA - and have now enrolled in a Postgrad Diploma of Forensic Science. Oooooh, CSI: Perth - bring it on! (Coz boy, do we really need more of those CSI shows. 4 is *totally* not enough.)
Finished watching the entire back catalogue of Buffy. Have now moved on to Angel the Series and reading all the fanfic I can get my hands on. Have also purchased the Watcher's Guide Vol 1, and even bought a Buffy magazine. Some might call it an obsession, but really, that's a little too extreme ;)
Spent one last weekend in Sydney, soaking up the buzz and atmosphere and sense that things actually *happen* there
Spent the weekend just gone in Brisvegas/ Gold Coast with Dave. Bloody hot and sticky, in the weather sense. Very green and lush. Nice beaches (but embarrassingly, managed to get dumped 3 times in the space of about 15 minutes, in water that was, like, waist high. Also managed to slip on some stairs and fall on my ass, and now have a HUGE impressive purpley bruise on my butt to show for it. Yep, it was a weekend of impressive coordination)

So, I've got exactly one week left here at work, and I fly back to Perth on Saturday 12 Feb. Kinda sad, really - I am amazed at how much I have grown to like Canberra - *sniff*. We're having a 'housecooling' party this weekend, before the Swinger Hill household disbands.

Back in Perth, I'll be working Tues - Thurs, and getting into the uni thing 4 nights a week - I seriously cannot wait to start studying again! I never thought I'd say that, when I finally finished 5 years of uni a little while back, but man, I really feel like I need to start learning again. I'm sure the excitement and motivation will last all of a week once the course starts, but I'm looking forward to getting into it. The course sounds awesome - I mean, Soils & Taphonomy, it doesn't get much more exciting than that!! ;)

Between now and then, just gotta get all my work finished here... Amazing how much stuff I have left to the last minute. My sis said to me the other day that you can tell what type of person someone is by how they react to their alarm going off in the mornings - I am definitely the 'quick! Hit snooze!' kind of person. Yep, if it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would ever get done.

2005-01-14T05:51:00.000+08:00

Sweet Like Chocolate

My flatmate rocks. He's just returned from 4 weeks on the east coast of the USA, and he brought me back a present - 2 big bags of peanut butter M&Ms, and 2 big bags of Reese's peanut butter cups.

MmmmmmMmmmmm!

2004-12-24T12:12:00.000+08:00

Homeward Bound

Well, I'm on the 7pm flight from Canberra to Perth tonight...looking forward to 10 days of catching up with fam and friends and spending some quality time at the beach!

The only downer is having to temporarily abandon Oscar - I dropped him off at lunch time to a Pet Motel, and it just about killed me to do it. By the time I finally got him in the pet carrier, we were both completely stressed out, I was covered in ginger and white fur, and he was wailing like he was being tortured. I've only taken him in the car a couple of times before, and only for short rides - this time, it was a 30 minute drive. He was so traumatised that he started panting with his mouth wide open, and he peed in the carrier :( I just hope he will eventually forgive me!

Anyhoo, on that happy note, I hope y'all have a super dooper Christmas and New Year! Will be seeing you in 2005.

2004-12-22T08:00:00.000+08:00

Music

There's been lots happening recently that I could write about, but that would take more effort than I can be bothered to put in at the moment. So instead, I'm copping out and jumping on the bandwagon of a meme that's been going through livejournal circles recently - the rules are as follows:

Step 1: Put your media player on random.
Step 2: Pick your favorite lines from the first 25 songs that play.
Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what song the lines come from.
Step 4: Cross out the songs when someone guesses correctly.

I also decided to only have one song per artist, and to have a fairly balanced selection of songs. Shouldn't be too hard to guess - most are songs that are fairly well known…So guess away in the comments!

1) Oh Mario, why if this is nothing
I'm finding it so hard to dismiss
If you're what I need, then only you can save me
So come on baby give me the fix

2) Interpret signs and catalogue
A blackened tooth, a scarlet fog.
The walls are bad. Black. Bottom kind.
They are sick breath at my hind

3) I got my head but my head is unravelling
Can't keep control, can't keep track of where it's travelling
I got my heart but my heart's no good
Coz you're the only one, that's understood

4) There's always a siren
Singing you to shipwreck
Steer away from these rocks
We'd be a walking disaster

5) I did not believe the information
Just had to trust imagination
My heart was going boom boom, boom
Son, he said, grab your things, I’ve come to take you home.

6) In the clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down or cut him
’til he cried out in his anger and his shame
I am leaving, I am leaving, but the fighter still remains

7) See my eyes, they carry your reflection
Watch my lips and hear the words I'm telling you
Give your trust to me, look into my heart
And show me, show me what you're doing

8) Do some people wind up with the one that they abhor
In a distant hell-hole room third world war
But all I see is films where a colourless despair
Meant angry young men with immaculate hair

9) Free me, leave me
Watch me as I'm going down
Free me, see me
Look at me, I'm falling and I'm falling.

10) It’s no use pretending
’cause I understand
The hide and seek we play with facts
It changes our demand

11) I am, taffy stuck and tongue tied
Stutter shook and uptight
Pull me out from inside
I am ready I am ready I am fine

12) Why don't you ask him if he's going to stay?
Why don't you ask him if he's going away?
Why don't you tell me what's going on?
Why don't you tell me who's on the phone?

13) Gonna have to be content
To stare at yer baby photos til it makes some sense
Were you ever mine anyway
Speak up as I drop away

14) The chain that fell off my bike last night
Is now wrapped round my heart
Sometimes I think that fate has been against us from the start

15) I saw you again today, oh what a surprise,
You opened the door to me, you'd dyed your hair from brown into bright white
I always said it looked good like that.

16) You tell me I'm a real man
I try to look impressed
Not very convincing
But you know I love it

17) She came out of the water
Into my horizon
Like a cumulo nimbus
Coming in from a distance

18) I'll never wash these clothes
I want to keep the stains
Your blood to me is precious
Nor would I spill it in vain

19) I swore
I swore I would be true and, honey, so did you
So why were you holding her hand?
Is that the way we stand?
Were you lying all the time?
Was it just a game to you?

20) In starlit nights I saw you
So cruelly you kissed me
Your lips a magic world
Your sky all hung with jewels

21) I'll take all the blame
Aqua seafoam shame
Sunburn, freezeburn
Choking on the ashes of her enemy

22) I paint pictures
To remember
You're too beautiful
To put into words

23) You drove me, nearly drove me,
Out of my head;
While you never shed a tear.
Remember, I remember,
All that you said;
You told me love was too plebian,
Told me you were through with me...

24) I'm standing on the edge of time
I walked away when love was mine
Caught up in a world of uphill climbing
The tears are in my mind
And nothing is rhyming

25) I looked out this morning and the sun was gone
Turned on some music to start my day
I lost myself in a familiar song
I closed my eyes and I slipped away...

Solutions
Well, there're a few there that I thought people would guess, but you guys did pretty well... the ones that went unguessed are bolded. Thanks for playing!

1)Pavlov's Bell - Aimee Mann

2)The Mercy Seat - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

3)The Perfect Drug - Nine Inch Nails

4)There There - Radiohead

5)Solsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel

6)The Boxer - Simon & Garfunkel

7)Take My Hand - Dido

8)Summertime - the Sundays

9)Not an Addict - K's Choice

10)Burn for You - INXS

11)Colorblind - Counting Crows

12)Tusk - Fleetwood Mac

13)Damage - You Am I

14)The Only One - Billy Bragg

15)Change in Me - Monique Brumby

16)You and Me Song - the Wannadies

17)When You Come - Crowded House

18)You Made Me the Thief Of Your Heart - Sinead O'Connor

19)Linger - the Cranberries

20)The Killing Moon - Echo & the Bunnymen

21)All Apologies - Nirvana

22)Good Fortune - PJ Harvey

23)Cry Me a River - Julie London

24)Mandy - Barry Manilow

25)More Than a Feeling - Boston

2004-12-15T15:16:00.000+08:00

My Obsession

Anyone who's spoken to me in the last month or two will probably know that I've recently developed somewhat of an addiction to the greatest, cleverest, sexiest, most entertaining and heartrendingly awesome TV show ever - Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Yeah, yeah, I realise that I'm a few years late to the party - somehow I missed ALL SEVEN SEASONS on TV. I caught glimpses of a couple of episodes, but was never really drawn to it, I guess because none of my friends were huge fans, and it seemed like a stupid fantasy show that just involved some chick killing lots of monsters and vampires.

But, after randomly picking up the second half of Season 5 on DVD at a ridiculously cheap price a couple months ago, I have become well and truly hooked. I've driven my flatmates insane with huge overdoses of Buffy - have torn through Seasons 6, 7, 1, 4, and have Season 3 lined up to go. I can't get enough of it - it is just such a well-written and acted show - the sharp dialogue and 'humanness' of the characters and their interactions, and the every day situations the show deals with are just done so well and are so relateable. And, of course, it's great to see an ass-kicking FEMALE heroine for once! (I'm thinking Buffy really paved the way for shows like Alias and La Femme Nikita). The show also features some great music - lots of alternative/previously unknown bands get some great exposure.

To feed my addiction, in addition to watching an ep nearly every night, I've gone out and bought one of the soundtrack CDs (highly recommend it!), and have done a bit of fanfic reading. Came across an absolutely brilliant fanfic series, set after the final episode of Season 7 - easily the best I've read so far - called "As the Romans Do" and available here READ IT if you're a Buffy fan. I'm looking forward to reading more of the author's stories, in fact, off to do just that now!!

2004-12-10T10:52:00.000+08:00

The Drugs Don't Work

Worst things about being having a cold:
- Sore throat
- Drippy nose
- Headacheyness
- That painful sensation of being about to sneeze only resulting in sneezes 1/4 of the time
- Feeling guilty for calling in sick even though I really *am* sick
- The ever growing pile of work on my desk awaiting my return...

Best things about having a cold:
- Lots of sleeeeeep
- Mooching around home in PJs
- Not having to work!
- Buffyfest - watching 15 episodes of Buffy in 2 days (how much does Buffy rock!!)
- Catching up on 'quality' daytime TV like the Bold and the Beautiful (how is Ridge's son Thomas now 18??? And involved with Amber??!)

On balance, I think the good outweighs the bad. For a day or two, anyways. Had Wednesday and half of yesterday off work, but I think I'm almost over it now - and not a moment too soon, since we have our work Christmas party on tonight! Alcohol has a therapeutic effect, right??

2004-12-06T15:27:00.001+08:00

High and Dry

The fine art of hover-pissing is something that all women should be familiar with. Just this weekend, I bitterly remarked to Dave that "you guys have got it so easy being able to stand up when you pee". This was after I'd waited for 20 minutes in a queue outside a porta-loo at Homebake only to find that there was no toilet paper, and pee all over the toilet seat and the floor. I guess it's to be expected when there are 20,000+ people sharing around 30 toilets - but it doesn't make the experience any more pleasant! So, cheers to the hover-piss. It saved my ass (*boom boom*).

Aside from toilets and too many people crammed into too small a space, Homebake was fantastic. There are so many talented Aussie musicians around - our music scene totally rocks. Standouts for me were Xavier Rudd (SUCH a brilliant guitarist - perfect mellow music for relaxing on the grass on a sunny day) and Missy Higgins (who was much better live than you'd think from listening to the album. I can't believe she's only 21 - makes me feel so old!!). But as for Jet - big yawn. They were a huge letdown, and I wish I'd opted for Pete Murray or the Hilltop Hoods instead. Arias, schmarias. They're totally overrated.

2004-12-01T10:44:00.000+08:00

Naked and Sacred

On a completely different note, how bizarro is The Naked News?? I know I'm a little behind the 8-ball here, but I stumbled across it for the first time on the weekend (on Foxtel). The presenters were all introduced, wearing bras and undies, and then the breaking news stories were read out by the two anchors in the studio:

"And news just in from the Middle East"... Slide down left bra strap
"Palestinians allege that Israeli soldiers have killed three Palestinian militants"...Slide down right bra strap
"in the West Bank town of Hebron."...Remove bra completely
"The Israeli army has refused to confirm the incident"...Down come the undies

??!? What. The. Hell?? How can these women be stripping down to their birthday suits while reading real, serious news stories?? And who watches this show?? Surely not anyone who has an actual interest in current affairs - how could they concentrate on what the newsreaders are saying?? And surely there are more 'stimulating' shows or videos for those who are hanging out for a bit of nudity??

Weird.

2004-12-01T10:03:00.003+08:00

Thinking...

A couple of semi-related links that I'm throwing out there for thought...

This one is a metafilter thread from a couple of days ago - the discussion is kicked off by a link to the blog of Ben, a 22yo DCer who is gay and is "turning away from homosexuality and turning towards God". Some interesting discussion in the thread about whether it is good that Ben is making his own 'choice' about his sexuality vs it is sad that his beliefs make him feel that he cannot be 'himself'.

This one is an article from the New Zealand Herald - talking about a recent report confirming mainstream Australia's attitudes towards gays and gay marriage. The only positive note for me in that article is that WA is (surprisingly) somewhat more progressive than the rest of Australia - being the only state that (legally) treats same-sex couples the same as married couples (aside from not recognising same-sex marriage). Though Tasmania (??!) is not too far behind.

EDIT: Ah, yes. When there's a good thing going, you can count on the Liberals to stuff it up. Colin Barnett has announced that if (most likely, when) the Liberals win the WA election (likely to be Feb), they will roll back WA's gay law reforms, and will increase the age of consent to 18, and bar same sex couples from adopting. Won't that be something to look forward to. You can read Colin Barnett's words of wisdom on the matter here. I'm not going to rant about it but needless to say his comments make me so angry - especially when he claims that the changes would not discriminate against same-sex couples but are rather aimed at protecting the institutions of society. Grrrrr, small-minded, bigoted people!

2004-11-24T14:45:00.000+08:00

Holiday!

Apologies for the lack of postage here in the last few weeks - I have been flat out at work, organising a big corporate conference hoo-har do which went off fairly well last week, and I then took a well-deserved break for a few days, and visited my big sis in Christchurch. Had a brilliant time - managed to survive a few ordeals and pack lots of stuff into the 4 days, like:

- almost not getting to Christchurch at all. I had to catch a bus to Canberra city centre, then change to a bus to Sydney, and catch a train from Sydney central to the airport. Somehow I got my timing mixed up, and arrived in Canberra city with 2 minutes to spare... raced over to where the Sydney bus was departing from (lugging my Very Heavy Bag with 6 bottles of WA wine for my sister) and almost cried when they said the bus had just left. I had a brief flash of hope when they said I might catch it turning out on to the main street...and sure enough, when I raced out onto the street, it was coming around the corner, to stop at a red set of lights. I dashed breathlessly across two lanes of traffic and banged on the door, and the HEARTLESS BASTARD bus driver ignored my desperately pleading expression, and just shook his head at me. Fortunately there was another bus a couple of hours later, and I still managed to get to the airport on time, though I cut it very fine!

- the Pacific Blue flight to Christchurch. I know these guys are a 'no frills' airline, but honestly, you couldn't get any more laid back than they were - it was like being on a school bus heading to camp. The head flight attendant told a joke while we were waiting for the final passenger to board, introduced the attendants as 'Candy, Mandy and Randy' and told us that while there were a few toilets on board the plane, if we were going to do 'a twosie', he'd prefer we used the toilet down the back. The flight was rounded off by a competition between the two sides of the plane, who had to pass a roll of toilet paper to the back of the plane without breaking it. I'm sure I wasn't the only one cringing.

- driving to Arthur's pass in the Southern Alps and passing a location from LOTR on the way (Castle Hill - I think it was at the end of the first movie - where there is a fight with the orcs among the rocks and Boromir dies).

- hiking up a volcanic hill that separates Lyttleton (Christchurch's port) from Christchurch. The Bridle Path was used many years ago by settlers to get in to Christchurch - they had to climb all the way up the hill with all their belongings on their back, probably with kids in tow. I don't know how they did it - I almost had a heart attack getting to the top - God, it was so steep, and I am so unfit! (My legs are still sore). We did get a spectacular 360 degree view of Christchurch, the coastline and Lyttleton at the top of the hill, at least.

- seeing Dido in concert - was good but not fantastic - I guess her style/songs are not really suited to a big concert. And she tried to 'dancify' some of them, including my favourite 'Take My Hand' - which was just wrong.

- jetboating and doing a horseback trek in Hanmer Springs - a cute alpine town about 1.5 hours north of Christchurch.

- finding a clothing label called 'Amie' in a NZ department store!! I couldn't resist buying a few t-shirts and a pair of jeans - to be worn on big nights out when I might forget my name ;)

Big thanks to Beth for being a great host and showing me all the wonderful sights, and driving me all around the country. From the little that I saw of NZ, it is spectacularly beautiful, with the mountains and the coast never more than an hour or two's drive away. And it's all so lush and green! Kiwis are very friendly types, too - you cannot go into a store without someone having a long chat to you. It's almost enough to outweigh the ridiculous kiwi accent ;)

Stay tooned for some pics!

2004-11-05T11:20:00.000+08:00

So tired of waking up tired...

Good
A cute, cuddly cat sleeps on your bed every night and is an excellent foot-warmer.

Not so good
Said cat has a sleep cycle of approximately 5 hours, and wakes you up every morning at 4am wanting to go outside.

Really freaking annoying
It is raining when you let said cat outside at 4am, and approximately half an hour later, when you have just drifted back to sleep, you are rudely awakened by piteous meowing outside your window, as cat has decided he wants to be back INSIDE.

After you have dragged yourself out of your warm bed to let said cat back inside because of fear that piteous meowing may wake flatmates, you are tempted to throttle not-so-cute-and-cuddly-anymore cat, who is now burning off energy by tearing around your room, knocking bottles of perfume off your dresser and attacking your feet.

Methinks he might be sleeping outside tonight.

2004-11-04T06:11:00.000+08:00

Crazy

Jesus. I didn't seriously think that bloody George W would be re-elected - how could the US really want this moron to be running their country, and holding more power than any other individual in the world? Very depressing, and scary - both the fact that he's back in, and that the US has APPROVED him and the 'achievements' of his previous term as President.

It's interesting to look at the exit polls from the US election - I guess they show pretty much what you would expect - that a large majority of:
- white people
- males
- people who earn more than $50,000
- Protestants and Catholics
- gun owners
- people who served in the military
voted for George W. And unsurprisingly, 88% of African-Americans, and 77% of gays/lesbians/bisexuals voted for Kerry.

Some other interesting stats from the exit polls:
- 60% of the voters in big cities voted for Kerry, vs 59% of the rural voters backing Bush
- 41% of those polled have a gun owner in their household
- 54% think America is safer from terrorism than it was 4 years ago
- and 55% think that Iraq war is part of the war against terrorism (huh??!? how??!)

There are some interesting views here on why Howard and Bush both increased their popular vote. This one rings particularly true to me:

Modern Western society is about individualism and individual gain, anything that challenges our ability to do that must be crushed. Stemming from this drive is a lack of compassion and willingness to compromise for those values are now considered weak. Given the recent decline in generally accepted morals and ethics people branch out to find them again, and the far right provides the most obvious answers that suit our quest for personal gain.

Bush and Howard embody those quests and they provide the quick, cheap, and easy solutions but accomodating the simplistic answers of the far right and neo-conservative thinking.

We will learn the cost sooner of later, and our children will pick up this mess...

Paul Twomey

2004-11-01T11:45:00.000+08:00

Saturday Night at the Movies... (and Friday night, and Sunday night)

The Canberra International Film Festival started this weekend at Electric Shadows (the only 'alternative' cinema in Canberra). I've already watched 3 movies there - hey, there's not much to do in Canberra on a weekend ;) I love watching foreign films, mostly for the same reason that I really want to travel more, and enjoy reading other blogs - it's an opportunity to peer into a different world, and to get a taste of a life completely different to my little ol' boring one.

So, the movies I saw, in brief:

Ae Fond Kiss (Scotland)

I thought this one was cute, but nothing special - it kind of meandered around without any real purpose. It was a Romeo and Juliet-type story - set in Glasgow, a Pakistani boy falls in love with an Irish Catholic teacher. Boy is set to have an arranged marriage to his cousin, and knows his family won't be happy that he is involved with a non-Paki. Relationship problems ensue, between boy + family and boy + girl. Girl can't understand why boy won't stand up to his family.

I didn't really understand why boy wouldn't stand up to his family, either. Maybe because I can't imagine letting my family dictate the nationality or religion of the person I want to be with. But then again, I can't imagine losing my family because of my decision of who to date.

I never really got fully involved in the movie - the characters didn't seem to have much depth, and the relationship between Roisin and Casim was never really developed or explored. There were a few light and funny moments, though - overall, it was an easy movie to watch. I'd give it 3/5.

Garden State (USA)

I love it when I catch myself grinning goofily during a movie. I did that quite a lot while watching Garden State. It was written and directed by the lead actor - Zach Braff, who you may know better as J.D. from Scrubs. And he was just awesome in it! He played an emotionally numb mid-twenties small time actor, living in LA. He gets a phone call from his father, who he hasn't seen in years, telling him that his mother has died, and returns to his hometown for the funeral, bumping into guys he used to hang out with, and meeting a quirky and vivacious girl (Natalie Portman) who brings him to life.

Gorgeous, quirky and moving. Gets 4.5/5.

The Bottom of the Sea (Argentina)

This one is supposed to be a thriller, and starts off well, but loses its way about half way through. It's about Ezequiel (who is very handsome in a dark, brooding way), who has a beautiful girlfriend, Ana, who he is completely obsessed with - he can think of nothing but her, every minute of the day. He comes home one day and finds that she has slept with another man, and decides to follow her lover. He does this for a good portion of the film before eventual confrontation.

The Bottom of the Sea was a bit slow-paced, and I wasn't very satisfied with the ending. You can't help but sympathise with poor Ezequiel, though - my heart went out to him. And you can't help but hate Ana's new lover, who is the antithesis of Ezequiel.

3.5/5 for this one.

Tonight, I'm off to see 20:30:40. I think I may be all cultured-out by the end of the week...

2004-10-25T11:55:00.000+08:00

Living Doll

Came across a disturbing yet fascinating blog about celebrity plastic surgery.

Some of the more interesting entries include:

- Catherine Zeta-Jones - ok, it's not all down to plastic surgery, but My God, what a remarkable change!
- Lara Flynn Boyle - geez, she has more collagen in her lips than she has fat in the entire rest of her body
- Paris Hilton - and how could the Poo do the dirty with her??! Eww. I almost feel sorry for Delta - she may be 'boring', but at least she's not a skank.
- Kate Beckinsale - bet she wishes she never had that boob job...

Ah, isn't it just wonderful, what money can buy...

(link via fridaysixpm)

2004-10-22T11:08:00.000+08:00

Mr President

Here's an interesting quiz: choose who you'd prefer as American Pres based on a number of policy statements, without knowing who said what... I'm kinda relieved that I mostly chose Kerry's policies!

You preferred Kerry's statements 78% of the time
You preferred Bush's statements 22% of the time

Voting purely on the issues you should vote Kerry

Who would you vote for if you voted on the issues?

Find out now!

(via Metafilter)

2004-10-15T15:42:00.000+08:00

Time keeps on slipping...into the future

A couple of rather disturbing articles that I just came across via Metafilter:

- C02 emissions have been much higher than expected in the last couple of years, meaning that global warming is likely to progress much more quickly than anticipated. This article talks about some of the dire effects that a temperature increase of a couple of degrees will have on 12 'tipping points' of the world.

- This story talks about how a pill-sized brain chip has allowed a quadriplegic man to check e-mail and play computer games using his thoughts. Sounds great for people who have suffered spinal injuries, but I find it more than a little creepy - it's a bit too sci fi for me...

2004-10-15T12:29:00.000+08:00

Song 2

I have the house all to myself this weekend - flatmates are both on holidays out of the state. This means:

1) HAVING THE HOUSE ALL TO MYSELF! Yay!
2) Being able to roam around in my underwear should I feel the urge
3) Not waking up at 7am on a Saturday morning to the smell & sound of frying mushrooms and eggs (eugh!)
4) Being able to live like a sloth for 2 days and camp in front of the TV in my PJs (or underwear) without speaking to anyone, and
5) Having a bathroom (two, in fact) all to myself...

*blissful sigh*

Woohoo!

2004-10-13T12:15:00.000+08:00

I've got a plan

I've never really thought too much about having kids - there's no reason that I can see to want to rush into giving up my self-centred existence to spend all my time dedicated to caring for and worrying about another little being. But looking at this site, perhaps kids do have their uses after all...a cute kid could be the key to scoring some hot celebrity dates...

2004-10-09T21:45:00.000+08:00

Cry

What a sad, sad, sad day for Australians. I can't believe we are going to be stuck with Johnny and his cronies for a FOURTH term. What happened, people?? What were Aussies thinking??!

*sob*

I've just returned home from the National Tally Room - and it was a pretty sombre crowd there (Canberra being a Labor stronghold). We had to queue outside for an hour or so, and made it in to the hall just as Mark Latham was conceding defeat. That's not how it was supposed to be!!

It was kinda cool to be in the Tally Room despite the grim atmosphere - to feel like we were at the epicentre of Australia for a little while. We got a close look at the Channel 9 panel of commentators (waved from behind Ray a couple of times, but I don't think I made it on to TV ;) and I learned some important things, like:
- Laurie Oakes is a BIIIIIIG boy. I mean, you can tell on TV that he's not exactly slim, but boy, he has one of the most massive guts I've ever seen.
- Natasha Stott-Despoja is 6 or 7 months pregnant! She still looked pretty good in her black number, and was sipping away at a diet coke. Although her makeup looked like it had been applied by a heavy handed plasterer.
- Ray Martin is one ugly dude.

Aside from these fascinating and politically pertinent revelations, the highlight of the night was meeting Aussie actor Kate Atkinson in the queue outside the Tally room - you may remember her as Karen Miller from Seachange, or as Cassie in the (somewhat odd) Fat Cow Motel. Kate just happened to be in front of us in the queue, with a friend of hers, who I know through work - how bizarre. She is a passionate Labor supporter, and co-founded the Actors for Refugees group. She was quite friendly and seems very intelligent and together. And she is a Perth girl, too.

But meeting her was not quite enough to make me happy.

*big sigh*

*prays for a miracle, like a massive error in the vote tallying or an exceedingly huge number of postal votes, all for Labor candidates in marginal seats...*

2004-10-08T11:12:00.000+08:00

Impulse Flying

Yeeee-ha!! I have just booked a flight to Christchurch - 4 days of holiday bliss, New Zealand-style, coming up in a month and a half. Woohoo!!

[and hopefully the temps will have picked up a bit by then - sis says maxs at the moment are around 11 degrees - sheesh, even Canberra's weather is warmer than that now!]

2004-10-02T13:03:00.000+08:00

Love Letters

Amidst the pile of junk mail that arrived in our letterbox yesterday was this little gem - a flyer printed with black type on white A5 paper:

Important notice to all Canberrans

To a tall fair brunette, 23-25 in QUATTRO nightclub in the Summer of '99.

Always remembering you, shattered without you, and begging for a second chance to meet.

FROM: Guy with the black jacket and beard.

If you read this message and can forgive me, PLEASE leave a note at mavtoc7@yahoo.com

If this sounds like someone in your household, please pass on this note.

- Forever missing you and begging your forgiveness.

Wow. This poor guy has been dwelling on someone whose name he doesn't know, who he met 5 YEARS ago, in a nightclub. And what on earth did he do to her that needs forgiveness, when he just met her?? "Forever missing you"??! I think he's been watching too many soppy movies.

I'm almost tempted to email him...

2004-09-30T15:58:00.000+08:00

Hungry Like the Wolf

I'm heading out to dinner tonight - off to a Thai restaurant in the city...Mmmm, I love Thai food. One of the best things about Canberra is that there is no lack of fantastic restaurants. I think I read somewhere that Canberra has more restaurants per capita than any other city in Australia - and they are always jam packed. You'd have no hope of getting into a restaurant here on a Friday or Saturday night if you haven't booked.

I'm a little apprehensive about this dinner. It's to farewell a guy who was seconded to work in Canberra for a few months, and is now heading home to Adelaide. I only know him very vaguely, and have met a couple of the other people who'll be there once or twice through a friend (who won't be there). I find the girl who organised the dinner a wee bit intimidating - she's one of those loud and opinionated, but very intelligent sorts, who has a wonderful gift of making people in her presence feel like right idiots. But I am determined to be cool, witty and charming tonight - yes, I CAN be socially competent...

2004-09-17T08:32:00.000+08:00

Dream Lover

A bit of fun for a Friday morning... try out this test - to find out who is your dream celebrity date. Mine is Pierce Brosnan - "You lust after the more sophisticated man. He's charming and will always sweep you off your feet". Oh, yeah!

2004-09-06T09:15:00.000+08:00

Show them You Care
(AKA How to Get Your Human out of Bed at 5am when You want to Play)

By guest blogger Oscar

Y'know, humans can be lazy creatures sometimes. Not like us cats, who are always keen to get a good start to the day by getting up bright and early in the morning. It can be hard to convince your human that they want to play at 5am, but if you show them that you care about them, they'll be willing to give you a little bit in return. Here are my top tips on how to get that lazy human out of bed - coz we all know, when you gotta play, you just gotta play!

1) Humans love affection. They really love being kissed on the face - especially with a cold, wet nose. What a great way to start the day, getting kisses from your favourite feline!

2) Humans also enjoy getting close to their cats. They love it when you cuddle up to them, and they appreciate you sitting on them to keep them warm. It is best to sit on exposed parts of their body - such as their face - for this purpose.

3) To show your human that you want to play, it's a good idea to do some "warm up" play activities. Forget that fake mouse that your human bought for you - PLASTIC BAGS make the best toys. Pick one that makes a really loud rustling noise, and chase it around your human's bedroom a few times, being careful to not let it get away.

4) When you're done with the plastic bag, it's time to show your human that you love their favourite things as much as they do. Find your human's favourite pair of leather shoes, and give them a bit of a chew. Remember, bite marks show that you care.

5) In the event that your human takes away the shoes, you should move on to something else equally enjoyable to chew. Like that white cord connecting their laptop to the wall. Or, if your claws are feeling a little blunt, you could sharpen them on the side of your human's mattress.

6) If all else fails, you may have to take drastic measures. Leave your human's bedroom, go sit at the bottom of the stairs, and do your best Celine Dion impersonation. Threatening your human's housemates' sanity in addition to your human's is a sure fire way to get their attention!

Happy playing!
Oscar xxx

2004-09-03T15:29:00.000+08:00

Friday on my mind

The last couple of weeks have been pretty unremarkable...I haven't been posting here because I haven't really had anything interesting to say :) Life has just been rolling on as per usual. I've developed somewhat of a DVD addiction, due to my flatmate owning a DVD player and having a large number of "very legitimate" DVDs to watch. Plus the weather in Canberra is pretty conducive to staying inside, curled up on a couch with a blanket and a purring cat, watching TV. I've even started a small DVD collection of my own - my first purchase being the BBC series of Pride and Prejudice - oh! it's just so great...and Mr Darcy is just so lovely!! *swoon*

Since then, my collection has expanded to include a few Hitchcock movies, a superb French thriller (L'Appartement), and the old classics Breakfast at Tiffany's and To Catch a Thief. [A few of these were bought when I was looking for a Father's Day present...it's funny, I'm much better at finding things that I want than presents for other people ;)]

This weekend is likely to be a bit more active, with my flatmate's 22nd birthday - we're off to Hog's Breath for dinner tonight (although I wanted to boycott the place - we tried to book a table there a couple of weeks ago, and were told they don't accept bookings of less than 6 people - can you believe that??!), and tomorrow night there is apparently going to be a big party at our house. Should be interesting, especially since Neilo is mixing up many litres of his "famous" goon juice...

A bientot.

2004-08-27T10:56:00.000+08:00

Gold

Check out the latest post over at the Teejmahal for some excellent Friday afternoon Olympian humour...

And for some entertaining commentary on the Games, wander over to Going for Gold.

2004-08-26T07:12:00.000+08:00

No Milk Today

Argh!!! There's no milk in the fridge at work! No morning coffee for me! How am I gonna wake up and be able to concentrate??!

2004-08-24T07:05:00.000+08:00

Mr Postman

I had forgotten what a lovely surprise it is to receive a real letter in the mail, amidst all the bills and junk mail that usually flow in. I guess letters are pretty much obsolete now, in an age of instant communication with email, internet and mobile phones. So that makes it even more special when you do receive the rare letter. Thanks go out to BigAl :)

2004-08-17T22:10:00.000+08:00

Love this city

Have I mentioned before how much I like Melbourne? I really like Melbourne. It's got such a great vibe about it - so much friendlier and more relaxed than Sydney, and so much more vibrant and happening than Perth (and, dare I say, Canberra). And it's only an hour from Canberra, flying on a little Dash-8. [Incidentally, you get a great aerial view of the whole of Canberra from a Dash-8 - it looked just like a sculpted map, and I could point to my house!]

I spent Wed, Thurs and Fri at a work conference, and stayed at the Stamford Plaza, which is rather nice (the baths have spa jets in them!!). It was good to mix with young lawyers from some of our other offices, including some of my colleagues from Perth (and good to catch up on all the Perth goss!).

I stayed on for the weekend and Monday with a friend from high school, who lives in a sharehouse in Kew. We spent most of the weekend shopping and eating (so many great restaurants!), and on Saturday night, she took me to a heavy metal club for a farewell for one of her friends. I must say my expectations were not very high, but it wasn't as bad as I expected - the music was a bit "lighter" than I thought it would be (they even played a bit of Cypress Hill!), and there were refreshingly few skimpily clad teenage girls in the crowd, and not too many really scary types. But a few hours was definitely enough for me :)

My friend was working on Monday, so I had to find my own way around. I'm proud to say I caught the tram from her house in to the city all by myself! ;) Spent the day wandering through the CBD, discovering hidden laneways, obscure shops and soaking up that wonderful Melbourne atmosphere.

And now I'm back at work...*sigh*

2004-08-11T08:55:00.000+08:00

Good Mornin'

I would really love to be a morning person, like my flatmate, who spends an hour at the gym every morning before getting to work at 7.30am, instead of being a night owl and an habitual sleeper-innerer. I always feel great when I do manage to get up earlier than usual and make a good start to the day. There's something cool about being the first one to arrive at work...you get to switch on all the lights (how exciting! ;), use the coffee machine first, and start work in peace and quiet without the distractions of ringing phones, beeping emails and noisy people in the area.

On the rare occasions that I do manage to get into work early, I feel like I'm getting a head start on everyone else, and I plan to achieve SO MUCH in the extra time that I have. But inevitably I am totally unproductive, and don't get anything done - because I feel so good that I made the effort to get up early, and think I can afford to spend a bit of time surfing the net and emailing. This morning, I got in to work at the ungodly hour of 7.30 (very early around these parts!) as I caught a lift to work with my flatmate. And have I managed to get through all the work I wanted to before leaving for Melbourne (for a conference and a weekend of culture and shopping - wheeeee!!)? Not a bloody chance. But I have managed to read several news sites, catch up on a few blogs and emails and do a bit of internet banking.

Pah, I think getting up early just encourages inefficiency :)

2004-08-10T06:32:00.000+08:00

Chained to the wheel

Have you ever seen something that was at once awful and yet just hilarious?

Picture this...

You're out for dinner on a Saturday night with your significant other, in a trendy part of Canberra. You finish up an enjoyable meal and coffee, decide it's time to head home and make your way back through the cold Canberra night to the multi-storey car park where you left your car...and find that it is PROPPED UP BY BRICKS AND MISSING FOUR WHEELS.

This was the experience of some unfortunate Canberrans who had a night out in Manuka on the weekend. We had been out to dinner at a Turkish restaurant, and were driving out of the carpark at about 10pm. On the ground level, there was a green Subaru, its side balanced precariously on two stacks of bricks and its nose leaning against the car park wall. It must've been a crack team who removed the wheels, coz the car was in a pretty obvious spot - they wouldn't have wanted to waste any time getting in and out - they must have been prepared and looking for an easy target.

Anyone looking for some hot mag wheels??

2004-08-06T13:28:00.000+08:00

Still Cruisin'

There may be hope for me yet...just have to work out a plan of attack!!

*Sigh*

2004-08-04T07:17:00.000+08:00

Men are not nice guys

Hidey hi...I am back after a nice week's break from work spent showing my sister all of the lovely sights of Canberra, amidst her complaints of "it's so cold here!!" (OK, so it was 2 degrees, raining and blowing a gale at 5pm yesterday...but really, that's no cause for complaint...soft Perth people, I dunno!)

We did lots of touristy things around Canberra:
- a tour of the War Memorial (which is pretty amazing and incredibly sad - did you know that 10 million people died in WW1, and 50 million in WW2??! I'm on the lookout for a good book on WW2 now - interested in all the politics that led up to the war)
- a ski trip to Perisher Blue! More about that later...
- a sunny day at Bateman's Bay - the first time I've seen the sea in months! And it was 10 degrees warmer than Canberra - bee-yew-tee-ful!
- a tour of Parliament House, and we sat in on Question Time yesterday. Was kinda cool to see all the pollies in action - Mark Latham was giving Johnny a hard time about the Free Trade Agreement and whether the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is going to suffer because of it. And in response, Johnny accused the opposition of not being able to make up their mind about the FTA and whether it's good for Oz. Big Kim Beazley was welcomed back to the front bench also - he's recently been appointed Shadow Minister for Defence and was looking pretty comfy back in the front line.

Thanks to my sis for visiting and putting up with the shocking weather, and with me...and happy birthday wishes to her! (she's a big 35 today!)

[If you're wondering about the title of the post - there's no story behind it except that I heard the song on the way to work this morning, and it's been stuck in my head ever since...and, of course, it is always a valid comment:)]

2004-07-27T11:00:00.000+08:00

Fairytales and Castles

Oh boy, I've gotta get me one of these!! I reckon a Castle Malia overlooking a lake somewhere in Switzerland would suit me just fine!!

2004-07-21T14:05:00.000+08:00

The winner takes it all...

The results of the Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest for 2004 are in...and are hilarious as always. The aim of the competition is to write the worst possible opening sentence for a novel, which is not necessarily as easy as it sounds! The winning entry:

She resolved to end the love affair with Ramon tonight . . . summarily, like Martha Stewart ripping the sand vein out of a shrimp's tail . . . though the term "love affair" now struck her as a ridiculous euphemism . . . not unlike "sand vein," which is after all an intestine, not a vein . . . and that tarry substance inside certainly isn't sand . . . and that brought her back to Ramon.

Dave Zobel
Manhattan Beach, CA

Inspiring! :)

2004-07-19T12:15:00.000+08:00

Growing Up

My little Oscar kitty is 6 months old today!! This is what he looked like when I first brought him home:

And this is him now, all grown up and wise!!

Well, maybe not quite so wise. He still likes to climb everything in sight, and has a bad habit of jumping up on the kitchen bench all the time - it's to do with his absolute OBSESSION with food - any time anyone is in the kitchen, he assumes they are getting food for him. There is no such thing as a safe glass/bowl/plate with anything in it - turn around for 2 seconds, and he's up on the bench trying to eat it. Honestly, I've never known a cat to eat so much as he does, or to be so vocal when he's hungry (which is pretty much all the time!).

Now that he's 6 months old, it's time for a little operation...should be happening some time this week. Hopefully he will still talk to me after it's done ;)

2004-07-15T12:19:00.000+08:00

Congratulations...

...to my big sister, who has just accepted an exciting job offer with an engineering company in Christchurch! She'll be heading across the Tasman in mid-August, and will be on a 12 month contract with the company. A very gutsy decision - she's been hoping and talking about moving to NZ for some time, but I guess it will take a little while for it to sink in that she's really going.

I think it's a huge deal to move away from the city you've spent the last 20+ years in - and I don't think you can really appreciate what it actually entails until you've done it yourself. I know that moving to Canberra from Perth doesn't sound like such a big thing - but I remember the first little while I spent here, wondering why on earth I had moved to this unfriendly city, when all my friends and family and everything I'd ever known were a 5 hour plane flight away...But things improved steadily from the time I arrived, and now I feel pretty comfortable here - I've made a few friends, feel like I sorta know what I'm doing at work, and generally have things to do on the weekends... and it's wonderful to know that you can move to a whole new city on your own and survive.

And I know that my sis will do more than just survive in Christchurch - she will have a ball! Watch out spunky NZ men!!

But she's not allowed to pick up a dodgy kiwi accent ;)

2004-07-13T10:33:00.000+08:00

Ch-ch-changes

I am now officially a resident of Swinger Hill - oh yeah! Did the big move on Saturday, and I realised that I have accumulated a surprising amount of junk over the last 5 months. I guess it's just my nature as a hoarder...No, I can't throw away that [shirt that I haven't worn for 3 years/teapot that I don't use since I don't drink tea/water filter jug that I can't find a filter for anywhere] - I might just need it some time!! Thankfully the new place is just around the corner from the ex-house, so the 3 car trips weren't too much of a hassle.

Good signs already re the new flatmates - they love Oscar, which is a big relief! I've been keeping him inside the house for the past couple of days to make sure he's not gonna run away, so he's had lots of pent up energy just waiting to explode in the form of:
- "helping" with the ironing - chasing the cord and jumping up on the ironing board
- catnapping the balls of wool that my flatmate is trying to knit a scarf with
- chasing and unravelling the toilet paper
- tearing around the house like a crazy thing and pouncing on unsuspecting feet/fingers/heads.
But my flatmates have been very patient and are still insisting that he's "awwwww, so gorgeous!" which is definitely a good thing :)

We have our final inspection at the old house on Thursday. I stopped around there last night after dinner to finish off "my share" of the cleaning, and was happily scrubbing away at the shower, pondering over the day I'd had...And I started thinking about Robert's ghost stories. Suddenly the empty old echoey, shadow-filled house took on a rather menacing atmosphere, with evil presences lurking down the plughole, in the cupboard, outside the doorway, and just over my shoulder. It's amazing how your imagination runs wild once you have an idea in your head...I actually started singing songs out loud to try to lighten my mood a bit - I'm sure I scared away the neighbours, if not any malevolent ghosts!

No more ghost stories, methinks.

2004-07-09T13:11:00.000+08:00

Words

This is fantastic writing. Whether it's true, slightly embellished, or pure fiction, Joe sure knows how to tell a story. I'd love to be able to write like that...

2004-07-08T11:19:00.000+08:00

Black Magic Woman

Since Robert asked so nicely (noone's ever made a request for me to write anything before!), I've decided to share with you my one semi-supernatural experience of possibly seeing a ghost. I should warn you now that it's really not that exciting a story, and if anyone has a better one, please do share it with us!

Like I said in my 100 Things list, I am a complete cynic when it comes to ouija boards, psychics, ghosts and the supernatural generally. If I had been in Demi Moore's position in Ghost, I wouldn't have believed Whoopi Goldberg for a second. (And I certainly wouldn't have partaken in that creepy scene towards the end where Sam is in Whoopi's body - ewwww!). I guess it's partly my "scientific" nature - I need an explanation for everything, and I like to be able to see the proof. And I've never really had an otherworldly experience myself, apart from this one, which I have tried to convince myself was really just the result of an overactive imagination...

It was about 12 months ago, and I was living alone in my sister's unit in Perth, while she and her husband were working overseas. I am by nature a very sound sleeper - once I'm asleep, nothing short of a jumbo jet crashing into my bedroom will rouse me. (Allen's snoring has been known to have kept me awake when we've shared a room before, but once I'm asleep, even that doesn't disturb me ;) So anyway, on this particular night, for no reason at all, I suddenly woke up at about 3am. It wasn't a gradual becoming aware kind of waking up - I was jerked from sleep, my eyes snapped open, and immediately focussed. Standing in my bedroom doorway was a figure shrouded in white. I couldn't see a face or features, but I knew it was a woman, and that she had been staring at me. And this was no guardian angel - there was definitely no aura of warmth or friendliness at all.

I blinked, and the figure was gone. My heart was pounding unbelievably hard, the blood was roaring in my ears and I was shaking all over. I lay there frozen in my bed, too petrified to get out of bed to turn the light on, or to close my eyes again. I must've stared at that doorway for at least an hour before I finally fell asleep again.

She's made no re-appearance since then...that I know of... *cue X-Files music*

2004-07-05T20:46:00.000+08:00

Waterloo

I am sitting at my desk at work, and it is eerily empty and quite creepy. It is deathly silent, and dark except for the pool of light around my workstation.

What am I doing at work so late? Is the CEO driving me so hard that I'm working around the clock to keep up with her demands? Actually, no - she is on holidays this week, and even when she's here, I wouldn't exactly say she's a slave driver. Well, then, am I so fed up with my flatmates and that desperate to get away from them that I've been hanging out at work until they're safely asleep? Uh-uh. I am happy to hide out in my room at home when I don't really want to speak with them. Not that I am usually that antisocial, of course ;)

My motivation for being at work at this ungodly hour is a much more primal, and pressing, one - the urge to pee.

I was in my bedroom, conscientiously stuffing my clothes into a suitcase in preparation for the big weekend move, when my flatmate poked her head through my doorway and informed me that the toilet was "a bit blocked up". Umm, okay, I said, thinking, what do you want me to do about it? So yeah, said the flatmate, it's not looking too good, so if you need to go you'll have to go outside. Hmmm. It's 3 degrees, the backyard is a freaking jungle, it is pitch dark and she wants me to go pee outside??! Does she think this is Survivor??! I headed to the bathroom, just to be certain she wasn't somehow mistaken - and sure enough, a distinctly unhealthy glurbing sound was bubbling up from the bowels of the toilet every few seconds, like a big ceramic stomach struggling to digest a vindaloo curry.

After deciding that my neighbours probably wouldn't take too kindly to me banging on their door at 10.30 asking to use their loo, I figured my best option was to make the quick trip in to work and use the nice, clean facilities here. Coz if there's one thing I am fussy about, it's toilet hygiene. And no, I'm not so good with camping ;)

And now I think it's time to make a hasty exit through the menacing black corridors of the office out to my car, being sure to not let my imagination run away with me...definitely not thinking of scenes from The RIng or the Blairwitch Project...only thinking of my nice, warm bed and my cuddly kitty...

2004-07-03T13:03:00.000+08:00

What About Me?

When all else fails, you write about yourself, right? It's everyone's favourite topic - themself. If you know nothing at all, you at least know your own likes and dislikes.

So, following the example set by hundreds of other bloggers, I decided to do a list of 100 things about little old me. Please don't feel obliged to read - I won't be offended if you find the list tedious and self-indulgent! Anyways, here goes...

One hundred useless facts about me

1. I have blue eyes. Everyone in my family does too, except my mum, whose eyes are brown.
2. I turned 25 a couple of weeks ago. I used to think I would be married by the time I was 25 - not even close!!
3. I was born in Sydney, but my family moved to Perth when I was 3 years old.
4. I moved to Canberra in Feb this year for a 12 month transfer with work.
5. I have a law degree and a science degree from UWA.
6. I never intended to actually use the law degree, but I've been working as a lawyer for the last 2.5 years.
7. I majored in Pharmacology in my science degree.
8. I chose to do Pharmacology coz I thought it sounded cool based on the name.
9. I made a lucky choice, coz Pharmacology was really interesting, but I have probably forgotten all the stuff I learned about drugs now.
10. I would like to go back to uni and study forensic science.
11. I used to watch the X-Files years ago, and I thought Scully was very cool.
12. I am the youngest of 3 sisters. One sister is also a lawyer, and the other is an electronic engineer.
13. All of my immediate family live in Perth.
14. None of my extended family live in Perth. My mother's side live in Narrabri, NSW, and my dad's side lives in SA.
15. I am 3rd generation Australian. One of my mother's forebears came to Australia as a convict with the First Fleet. My dad's family came from Scotland.
16. None of my grandparents are still alive. My dad's parents died before I was born.
17. I have been on two big overseas trips. The first was to Europe when I finished uni, and the second was to LA/western Canada/Hawaii at the end of last year.
18. I really want to travel more.
19. I'd like to live overseas for a while, maybe in Switzerland or Canada.
20. I am really interested in languages. I took German classes for 18 months and have just finished a semester of French. I'd also like to learn Russian, Latin and maybe Spanish.
21. I didn't know what I wanted to do when I finished school.
22. I thought about doing Vet Science coz I love animals.
23. I still don't know what I want to do (but I know it's not Law).
24. I have a 5 month old cat called Oscar who is ginger and white, and is very affectionate and energetic.
25. I wish there was something that I excelled at.
26. I own 3 guitars.
27. I took guitar lessons when I was at school, and I still pick up a guitar every now and then.
28. I also took flute lessons when I was at school.
29. I'd like to learn to play the saxophone and the piano.
30. I love music. I can't walk past a CD shop - I have to go in to have a look. And I rarely walk out empty handed.
31. I have pretty varied taste in music. I like most music that's not heavy metal, country or inane boyband/girlband/crappy teen music.
32. My CD collection is one of my most prized possessions.
33. My book collection is another one of my most prized possessions.
34. My mum used to read me books when I was little, and I think I got my love of reading from her.
35. My favourite books as a kid were Enid Blyton's books, and the Chronicles of Narnia.
36. I still read lots of fantasy books, but I try to read more widely.
37. I like watching movies, too.
38. I like foreign films and "alternative" movies - not the Hollywood schlock.
39. I don't really like watching sport. I will watch tennis or cricket, but that's about it.
40. I don't like playing sport either, because I am too uncoordinated.
41. I do like swimming. I grew up with a pool in the backyard and the beach 5 minutes down the road, so I love water.
42. I love to drive.
43. I usually speed (it's so easy in Canberra where there are no speed cameras!)
44. I drive a 2002 red Holden Astra.
45. I like to indulge in long, hot showers.
46. I love food and I love eating out. My favourite types of food are Italian, Thai and Japanese.
47. I am a bit of a chocoholic. Tim tams, chocolate yogo, chocolate milk, chocolate icecream, double chocolate chocolate chip cookies...mmm. And Lindt and Guylian chocolates are just divine.
48. I can't stand eggs.
49. I don't like mushrooms, pumpkin or asparagus either.
50. I have never tried oysters, mussels or clams. I don't really like seafood (apart from fish and prawns).
51. I hardly ever eat red meat.
52. I admire people who are vegetarians.
53. I have thought about becoming a vegetarian but I don't think I have strong enough willpower.
54. I have pierced ears.
55. I don't have any other piercings, but I have considered getting a nose ring or another set of ear piercings.
56. I've also considered getting a tattoo but I think I am too much of a wuss to be able to stand the pain.
57. I have never been into hospital as a patient.
58. I've been under a general anaesthetic once, when I had my wisdom teeth removed. I was crying when I woke up.
59. I've never broken a bone.
60. I have never been skydiving, bungy jumping, abseiling or white water rafting. I've been snowboarding once and I really suck at it.
61. I hate public speaking.
62. I wish I was more articulate.
63. I hate being the centre of attention.
64. I hate going to parties where I only know the host.
65. I like drinking red wine, white wine, cider and spirits (but not all at once!)
66. I don't really like champagne.
67. I used to hate beer but I am working on developing a taste. I like lighter beers like Belgian beer, and some of the boutique beers like Corona.
68. I am much more outgoing when I've had a few drinks. My drinking type would be "friendly affectionate" (much better than obnoxious or violent, IMHO, but can still cause problems!).
69. I usually dress pretty casually when I'm not at work.
70. My favourite and most worn shoes are a pair of Skecher skate shoes.
71. I wear suits to work.
72. I don't like wearing makeup.
73. I don't wear much jewellery.
74. I am lost without my watch.
75. I like spending time on my own.
76. I wish I was a good writer.
77. I'd like to write a fantasy novel one day...
78. I wanted to be in a band when I was younger.
79. I still think being in a band would be pretty cool.
80. I am more easily intimidated by women than by men.
81. I hate chauvinistic men.
82. I think Sam Newman is an absolute prick.
83. I am overly sensitive.
84. I cry really easily, often when I really don't want to.
85. I hold grudges.
86. I can't pretend to like someone that I don't like.
87. I wish I was funnier, or could fill awkward silences more easily.
88. I can be lazy and I often procrastinate, but when I do something, I do it properly.
89. I sleep in on the weekends unless I have made specific plans.
90. I wish I was artistic, but I couldn't draw or paint to save my life.
91. I believe in God.
92. I am very cynical about the supernatural, although I think I have seen a ghost before.
93. I like wearing perfume. My current favourite is Ralph Lauren "Romance".
93. I am attracted to guys who smell good.
94. I like guys who are quietly confident. I hate loud, domineering guys.
95. Sometimes I think that everyone is selfish, and that people generally suck.
96. Sometimes I am overwhelmed by the kindness or thoughtfulness of other people.
97. My male and female friends are about equal in number.
98. I am grateful for all my friends.
99. I believe that everything happens for a reason.
100. I am very impressed if you made it this far!!

Back to cleaning the house, now...

2004-06-29T19:37:00.000+08:00

Hunting High and Low

Update on the housing situation - just in case you were worried that in a mere two weeks I would be sleeping under a leafless tree on a cold Canberra street and waking up each morning covered in frost, you can set your mind at rest, as I have a found a new place to call home - yay!

But let me say that it has not been an easy process - I sent off a million and one emails last week to every "household seeking person" advertisement that I could find. And the replies came back in one of 3 forms:
- You sound like you'd be a great flatmate, but sorry, we've already filled the room.
- You sound like you'd fit into our house perfectly, and we love cats, but our lease doesn't allow any pets.
- We're not really animal people, but if you were willing to ditch the cat, we'd be pleased to have you.

I never thought that owning a cat would be such an impediment to renting a place - I mean, honestly, how much damage can a cat do?? (Well, OK, he HAS peed in the corner of my room once or twice, but only because he's so attached to me that he didn't want to leave my room to find his litter tray... ;) And how is it humanly possible to not like cats??

But to cut a long story short, I've been offered a room in a townhouse in Swinger Hill. Isn't that just the coolest name for a suburb??! The name was, of course, the biggest factor in choosing this place - that and the fact that my options were extremely limited!!! I will be living with a young guy and a girl, who both seem pretty laid back and friendly. And who are not a couple and aren't in relationships!! The townhouse is quite old and a bit dodgy, but the rooms are a good size, it's about the same distance from work as the place I'm currently in, and best of all, I will be paying only $90 rent per week. For Canberra, that is incredibly cheap - Canberra rental rates rival Sydney's, and definitely outstrip Melbourne's. (For a tiny one bedroom, unfurnished flat in one of the non-inner suburbs of Canberra, you'd expect to pay a min of $180 a week - just crazy!!)

So there you have it - the big move will be happening not this weekend but the following one. And thankfully, since I left most of my crap with my (long-suffering) parents in Perth, it shouldn't be too arduous a process!!

And back to the place I am living in at the moment - I just want to say - for God's sake, if you're moving out with your boyfriend, and you WORK together every day of the week, can you not BEAR to be apart for ONE SINGLE NIGHT of the week?? Driving me absolutely freaking nuts. You know, I think this being abandoned by the flatmates may really be a blessing in disguise...but of course, that doesn't stop me from resenting being ditched!! :) Hand me those voodoo dolls... ;)

2004-06-28T19:53:00.000+08:00

My Friend the Chocolate Cake

...are the most wonderful live act ever! I went to see them perform last week at Tilley's (which is a funky cabaret-style venue in Canberra, with plush red interior and lots of tables and booths. It used to be a "men by invitation only" club - a nice change, huh! - it's owned by a couple of lesbian ladies. I think the bar staff are still all female.)

For those of you unfamiliar with MFTCC, they are a local outfit made up of a cellist, violinist, lead singer & pianist, drummer and mandolin player. Their music is sorta hard to describe - kinda folky, very acoustic and melodic (if you're an Aussie, you would have heard their song "The Romp" on AMP commercials)... and they are incredible live performers! They are just great to watch - they have a real tangible passion for their music, and they enjoy playing with each other so much - it's great to see them exchanging grins while they're putting their heart and soul into the music. You just can't help but smile as you listen to their music, and despite having to head out into the chilly cold air at the end of the night, I left (after a SEVEN song encore!!) with a light heart and a grin on my face.

If you haven't seen MFTCC perform live before, and you ever get the opportunity, PLEASE take it up. Even if it's just to see the violinist's (Hope, aka "the violin pixie", according to someone in the audience...) trademark awesome clogs and tiara.

Trust me. They're great.

2004-06-23T09:35:00.000+08:00

Taste it

EwwwwWWWWwwwwWWWW!!!!

Chocolate covered pork fat - what the???!

2004-06-22T08:25:00.000+08:00

A sad silence

I just read a news article that nearly made me cry, so I thought I would share the joy. It's a report of a car accident in Victoria on Sunday - a 17 year old learner driver was driving with her parents, a younger sister and an exchange student from France, and veered into the path of an oncoming truck. All of the car occupants were killed.

The family had another 20 year old daughter, who was not in the car. I cannot imagine being in her position, losing all of her family in one fell swoop...just awful. And the family of the exchange student back in France...would they ever be able to forgive themselves for letting their daughter go to Australia??

Heart-wrenching stuff.

2004-06-20T19:19:00.000+08:00

Life

Well, this is the first time I've accessed the internet from home, from my laptop! I have been feeling guilty lately about posting entries from work - and it gets exceedingly difficult to do so with my workstation right outside the CEO's office door. So I should be posting more regularly, from home, now.

I spent a fantastic weekend in Sydney - many thanks to Dave again for his hospitality. We spent Saturday wandering along the shopping strip on trendy Oxford St (does the entire gay male population of Sydney work and/or shop on Oxford St??!?), and I nabbed a couple of bargains from FCUK. They have some great shirts - I picked up one I thought quite appropriate, reading "moody fcuk".

Dave and I and a friend who was visiting from PNG had dinner in a hip 'n' happening Greek restaurant on Macquarie St. It was your typically classy Greek joint, with a wall mural of cheesy Grecian scenery. There were a couple of birthday parties going on there, and about halfway through our dinner, the owner of the restaurant came out to stir things up a bit. He got the birthday boys and girls out onto the dancefloor for a Zorba dance, complete with plate smashing - and when he invited everyone to join in, Dave and I couldn't resist getting up there to throw a few plates. And it really is strangely satisfying to smash plates to smithereens. I highly recommend giving it a go!! The dancing continued after the plate smashing, and our table of Perthians had a song dedicated to us before we left - Wild Wild West. Tacky, yes, but those Greeks sure do know how to have fun!

We ventured on to a couple of Sydney's clubs - on Oxford St, and then on to King's Cross. Lots of good music, alcohol and dancing - ending up in a very late, and excellent, night, and very sore feet.

The hitch to an almost perfect weekend came when I arrived home. You remember my bitching about my flatmate's boyfriend ALWAYS being at our house? Well, karma has come back to bite me - my flatmate is moving out with him, and my other flatmate (they are sisters) is going with them.

So, my options are to stay in this house and find some new flatmates (and get a TV, washing machine, freezer, cutlery, crockery, pans, couch, table...) or to find a household that will take me and Oscar in. And I have 2 weeks to sort something out.

Both of my flatmates have assured me that their moving has nothing to do with me - and that they'll help me to find somewhere else or get flatmates as much as they can. But despite me understanding them moving, I can't help but take it personally, and feel hurt and let down. I don't want to have to socialise or even talk with them now, and I feel that the sooner I get out of here, the better. I know it's childish, but I have never been able to handle rejection well. If you don't want me around, well fine, I'll get out of your life and quit inconveniencing you as soon as I can.

Time to start a-huntin'.

2004-06-11T10:55:00.000+08:00

I'm too sexy...

No, no, not me, silly! (I have no delusions there...) I am talking about my sleek, uber-chic, ultra-compact, awesome, shiny new Apple Powerbook!!! I'd been thinking about salary sacrificing a laptop for a while - finally got around to organising it last week. It was delivered about an hour ago. Perfect timing - am looking forward to playing with it on the long weekend!

Thanks to all you wonderful people for the birthday wishes - I am feeling quite spoilt! Special thanks to Al, Jo, Tam and Nads for the flowers and choccies, which were delivered to my work - so no doubt all my workmates are now thoroughly impressed by my gorgeously romantic and lavish secret admirer ;)

And as for the grand 1/4 of a century...as my family keeps reminding me, when I was a wordly teenager, I was convinced I would be married by the time I was 25. It seemed to me that by the time I was *that old* I would have everything worked out - I'd have the ideal job and would be advancing up the ranks, I'd be on the way to owning my own house, and I'd speak 3 different languages and have travelled the world over. Obviously the next step to completing my happiness would be to get married to my spunky, funny, intelligent and sensitive boyfriend, who I would have been dating for at least a year or so. Of course - it was predestined to be that way.

Ahem.

Maybe in the next 25 or so??

2004-06-07T15:46:00.000+08:00

Young Girl

I went to get my hair cut on the weekend - just a trim, as it was getting a little mullet-like at the back (and I am extreeeemely paranoid about looking like I have a mullet!). I'm a bit dissatisfied with it actually, I'm looking a little "pumpkinhead"ish at the moment. Not good.

Conversation with the hairdresser (at Woden Plaza - I've been there a couple of times before):

Her: Do you work around here? You look very familiar, I'm sure I've seen you before.

Me: No, but you've cut my hair before, so that might be why you recognise me.

Her: Oh, ok. So what do you do?

Me: Ummm [I hate it when people ask what I do]... I'm a lawyer.

Her: Really??!?? But you look too young, you have such a baby face!! Do they take you seriously???

Me: Well, maybe some of the time...

Her: So how old are you?

Me: 25....(in a few days...eek!)

Her: Wow, you look like you're just out of school...

Well, I suppose it's better than one of my colleagues telling me recently that I have a massive patch of grey hairs at the back of my head!!

And if you're bored, try out this little game - petals on the roses. (Got it on my 4th guess - doesn't bode well, since apparently the smarter you are, the longer it takes!) [Link courtesy of Web Goddess]

2004-06-04T11:31:00.000+08:00

Don't Go Breaking My Heart

There are some pretty horrendous breakup stories to be read here - hoping I never have one to compete!

Speaking of relationships, my two flatmates, who were both single when I moved into the house, have since found themselves boyfriends. Which I don't have a problem with...except that one of them is virtually living at our house now. Nice enough guy, but I'm getting a bit sick of him being there EVERY night when I get home from work...And I can't understand that they don't get totally sick of each other - not only do they spend every spare minute together, they also work AT THE SAME place, and he is now her supervisor.

Maybe this is why I'm still single - but I can't STAND the thought of spending 24 hours a day with one person - I think I'd go nuts! I really value time to myself, and a bit of variety in who I spend time with, far too much.

Our house is going to be packed to the rafters tonight - me, my two flatmates, flatmate's bf, flatmate's dog Max, my cat Oscar, and flatmates' mother and her dog Tonka.

Sheesh!

2004-06-01T11:23:00.000+08:00

Beautiful Girl

A "panel of experts" have put together a list of the 100 most beautiful women "of all time" (ie the last 60 years). I guess there's an expert for everything these days - we need "properly qualified" people to tell us who is beautiful?? Hmm. Anyways, seeing this list reminded me of a conversation I've had a few times with friends - that for me, beauty is intricately tied up with personality. I suppose there is some objective element to judging beauty - obviously figure and skin play a big part, and psychologists say it's all to do with facial symmetry, but so often I find that as I get to know someone better, somehow I think of them as more (or less) attractive than I initially did.

I think personality affects my view of celebrities' looks as well - for example, I think Cate Blanchett and Kate Winslet are two of the most gorgeous actresses, which I'm sure is influenced by my perception that they are "classier" and more cultured than actresses like Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Aniston and Julia Roberts (who I'd rate waaaay lower than they are).

And what is it that makes Audrey Hepburn the most beautiful woman ever? I wouldn't disagree with putting her at number one, but I'm not quite sure why - I think for me, again, it has more to do with her "class" than her actual physical looks...

2004-05-28T06:13:00.000+08:00

Cold as Ice

It was a chilly night last night in Canberra. Our house has ducted gas heating, which is fantastic, but we don't leave it on overnight, so the temperature has usually dropped quite a bit by the morning. And despite the wool underlay on my bed (a necessary investment that I made about 2 weeks ago), and my feline hot water bottle, I woke up FREEZING this morning - my breath was fogging up INSIDE the house!

And when I ventured outside at around 7.30 to head to work, my car was covered in a fine white layer of frost, for the first time ever. The wipers did nothing to get rid of it, so I had to go back inside and get a bucket of lukewarm water to throw over the windscreen. As I was driving to work, the temperature gauge thingy in my car was reading -1.5 degrees. But the sun was blazing away - such a strange contrast, to have blue skies and bright sunshine, but freezing cold temperatures!

Thank God it's Friday - I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow and reading some more of Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons" - it's nearly as good as "The Da Vinci Code", which I couldn't put down! A good, fast-paced, interesting read. Although both books raise some interesting theories/issues about Christianity, and particularly the Catholic church.

Oh, and happy birthday wishes to Joanne!

2004-05-20T09:35:00.000+08:00

Electric Blue

What Color is Your Brain?
brought to you by Quizilla

Interesting...blue *has* always been my favourite colour...I have way too many blue clothes!

What colour are you?

2004-05-19T16:10:00.000+08:00

More than Words

Argh, I am so addicted to Babble...my attention span at work today has been completely shot coz I keep checking it to see if I can find any new words - so be warned of the addictiveness before you check it out!

On the same topic, ie words, I'm gonna have a bit of a rant about one of my pet hates...As someone who deals in words and subtleties of meaning for a living, I am terribly pedantic about their use. There are 3 things that drive me insane when I see them in professional or public writing:

1) Bad spelling. Actually, this annoys me in any writing at all - dammit, people whose first language is English should know how to spell! I'm not talking about knowing how to spell the ridiculous words that noone ever uses (like some of those that the kids in Spellbound had to spell - some of them were corkers!), and I'm not talking about typos or slang. What gets me is when people get the common, every day words that you see ALL THE TIME wrong.
2) Poor grammar and punctuation. There is nothing more irritating than seeing a sign at the supermarket that says "Trolley's". It makes me itch to get out the liquid paper and get rid of that bloody errant apostrophe! (If you are similarly irritated,check out the Self-Appointed Grammar Police page here - unfortunately it hasn't been updated for a while)
3) Convoluted language. This is more of a problem in legal writing than in other fields - lawyers seem to feel that if they make a passage of writing completely incomprehensible to everyone else, they are all the more intelligent for having written it.

This rant was brought on by a particular senior lawyer whose submissions I recently reviewed and suggested some "plain English" amendments to, in an attempt to make them vaguely readable and 3 pages shorter...not only did he not *use* any of my suggestions, he didn't even acknowledge that I had given them - argh, so frustrating! Ah, what can a lowly worker bee do.

Enough ranting, back to Babble...

2004-05-10T12:02:00.000+08:00

Sick to the Stomach

By now, everyone has heard of the torture and humiliation that Iraqi prisoners underwent at the hands of American soldiers. I guess you're all as horrified as I am by the cruelty and inhumanity of their acts. It makes me sick to think that people are capable of treating other human beings like this.

Here is an extract from The New Yorker - you should read Hersh's article.

Here is the full report of Maj. Gen. Taguba on the alleged abuse of prisoners by members of the 800th Military Police Brigade at Abu Ghraib Prison in Baghdad.

I remember reading a few years ago about the My Lai massacre - which was perpetrated during the Vietnam War (the story was broken by the same Seymour Hersh whose article on Abu Ghraib appears in The New Yorker) - and thinking that such a tragedy couldn't happen in this modern era. Surely lessons had been learned, and military culture had changed with the times, and the military system had become much more transparent - but I guess that was pretty naive thinking.

What is wrong with people, and with the military system, that things like this can happen, and people can treat others with such contempt and senseless cruelty?? Could this just have easily happened if the prison had been under Australian control rather than American?? How can Western society possibly judge other "rogue" nations when our "civilised" Western society acts like this??

2004-05-07T09:20:00.000+08:00

I Will Survive

Continuing on yesterday's theme of stories of a slightly gory nature, I came across an incredible news article this morning about a construction worker in LA who survived SIX nails being driven into his skull by an automatic nail-gun - pretty amazing stuff!!

2004-05-06T09:07:00.000+08:00

(What's the Story) Morning Glory

I spent a bit of time this morning surfing the Snopes website, after a colleague sent me yet another hoax/urban legend email (I can't believe how many people still forward these kinds of emails on without checking first!!). It's a great website if you're looking to waste a bit of time - there are lots of interesting stories compiled there. Each tale is identified as true, false, ambiguous or of indeterminate origin.

Some of the true stories are just incredible - a few that I found interesting (a couple of them quite grisly) are:

- Two men each lost an arm in a grisly tug-of-war contest
- A lawyer demonstrating the safety of windows in a skyscraper crashed through a pane and plunged to his death
- A cuckolded husband presented his wife with the head of her lover
- Tounge of frog
- Photos show a domestic cat sporting a "lion cut."

And have a look at the What's New page for some recent stories.

2004-04-28T10:14:00.000+08:00

Unbelievable

I just came across a news headline that read "Same-sex marriage ban not about gays, says PM". Hmm, I thought. If it's not about gays, what is it about???

But I bit my tongue, thinking - well, maybe Johnny is saying that it's about children rather than specifically about gays. Y'know, the old (and in my view, very flawed) argument that it's not in the best interests of a child of either sex to be brought up by either two men or two women, because they won't have a positive, STRAIGHT role model to look up to, and will miss out on either male or female influences. And maybe in some way, allowing gay marriages increases the likelihood that children will be raised by same-sex parents (I haven't looked into adoption law requirements).

I went on to read the article. The "best interests of the kids" argument is not even the basis of the PM's comment - according to the article, Mr Howard stated: "The proposal would be to simply insert a definition in the Marriage Act which gives formal expression to what most people regard to be the case - and that is (that) marriage... is between a man and woman. This is not directed at gay people. It's directed at reaffirming a bedrock understanding of our society."

UN-friggin-believable.

2004-04-27T13:00:00.000+08:00

And the winner is....Syd-e-nee!!

Well, I launched off on my 2nd road trip from Canberra this weekend - against all caution from my parents ("Take the bus!! You'd be crazy to drive to Sydney!! You'll get completely lost once you hit the city!!") I drove to Sydney to visit my lovely and hospitable friend David. And I am proud to say that, mainly due to Dave's step-by-step instructions on how to get to his place in North Sydney, I didn't get at all lost. Although I did manage to cross the Harbour Bridge 3 times - but I meant to, really! It was all part of the tourist experience.

The weather was just perfect (mid 20s, while in Canberra it was a wintery 10 degrees) - the sun was shining, the bees were buzzing (or was that the traffic??) and all that. It was incredible to be in such a huge, hyper city - it could swallow up Canberra 10 times over without a ripple. And Sydney really makes the most of its beautiful harbour and waterfront areas, with high rise apartments and residential housing all around the huge harbour.

David was a wonderful tour guide and took me to see all the cool Sydney spots. We had a wander along the trendy (and very gay) Oxford Street, and witnessed the end of a property auction - it was a little old shoebox of a 2-bedroom house just off the main strip, which went for a cool $1.02m. Was very impressed with the auctioneer's racetrack-style commentary, sharp pin-striped suit and the gavel he used to seal the deal.

Had a drink at the Opera House Bar, checked out Darling Harbour and Circular Quay, wandered through the city and ambled along Bondi Beach. And David was the perfect host - he even cooked up a delicious hot brekkie on Sunday morning! Take note, boys - preparing a breakfast of sausages, eggs and tomatoes is a sure-fire way to impress the girls :)

I decided to take a slight detour on the drive home from Sydney - I saw a sign on the Hume Highway for the "Wombeyan Caves" and decided to check them out. So I drove through Mittagong, a pretty town in the Southern Highlands area of NSW, and ended up on a narrow, contorted, bumpy and dusty road to Wombeyan. It was incredibly picturesque - there were some spectacular views of valleys and of a river far below - but the drive was quite exhausting, as for the hour and a half it took, I was constantly concentrating on the road and worrying that I would meet a car coming the other way around a blind curve.

I took a self-guided tour through the Fig Tree Cave, which has motion-sensors to illuminate feature areas of the cave when you approach them. It was a bit eerie to be walking through the cave on my own, but it was quite gorgeous, with lots of stalactites and stalagmites and a beautiful cavern area called the Opera House Stage - although I kept wondering if the bats that were rumoured to live in there were going to drop a nasty surprise on me!

The road from the caves back to Goulburn was much better than the windy hills road, being sealed and smooth - but I think I saw a speed camera flash on my way through the town...

Maybe I should've taken the bus.

2004-04-22T12:24:00.000+08:00

Take a Picture

I have set up a fotolog here, which I am gonna try to update every day (I can only upload 1 photo per day). I'm gonna put up some more photos from my holiday at the end of last year in LA/Canada/Hawaii, and stay posted for some pics of my kitty and of some Canberra sights!

(Thanks to Momo for the Fotolog link)

2004-04-19T16:14:00.000+08:00

Dreams

Probably the only theme that has come up several times in my dreams is that my teeth are falling out. I hadn't had a dream like this for quite a while, but last night I had a very vivid dream that a couple of my teeth were starting to get loose, and began to fall out, so I was running around desperately trying to find a late-night dentist to put them back in.

Eugh - it was awful! I hate the idea of losing my teeth. First thing I did when I woke up was to check that all my teeth were still firmly in place. Maybe it means it's about time I paid a visit to the dentist...it has been several years since my last check-up...

Other possible explanations, according to this site, are that I am either getting clucky, pre-menopausal, or I'm in a situation where I can't assert myself. Hmm, I think I'll go with the needing a trip to the dentist explanation.

2004-04-16T19:40:00.000+08:00

Life is a Highway

I was a bit nervous about driving from Canberra to Melbourne, as I'd never really driven any significant distance on my own before, and 660km is a reeeeeally long way. But I was also looking forward to the experience - I love to drive (especially since I traded in my "hoonmobile" Gemini for a zippy new Astra, which is red, so it goes faster) and I was well prepared, with a stack of good CDs and plenty of snacks to keep my sugar levels up.

So I headed for the Hume Highway early last Friday morning. It was perfect driving weather - the sky was blue, and the sun was shining, but it wasn't uncomfortably hot. The Hume stretches all the way from Sydney to Melbourne, and connects with the Barton Highway about an hour's drive north of Canberra (yeah, it's a bit weird - you have to drive north initially to head towards Melbourne. Who knows).

Before I knew it, I was passing through Classic Australian Folk Song Territory. I made a pitstop about 2 hours into the drive, to take a quick snap of the Dog on the Tuckerbox (yes, there really is a statue of a dog perched on a tuckerbox...I forgot to re-set my odometer to check the distance, though!) before continuing along the road to Gundagai. A couple of hours further on, I saw the sign for the turn-off for Cootamundra, and it wasn't too much later that I passed dear old Puckapunyal by.

Thrilling as it was to recognise the names of all these places from rockin' Aussie songs (well, it was kinda cool...they don't write songs about Albany or Geraldton, do they!), my real excitement came from witnessing the dinky di Aussie creativity demonstrated in the names of the creeks that the Hume passes over. Let's see, I crossed...
- 2 Mile Creek
- 5 Mile Creek
- 11 Mile Creek
- 4 Mile Creek
...and just when I was beginning to think that creative souls who named our creeks must have exhausted all their brilliant ideas, I came to
- Sandy Creek

Whatever will they think of next!!

It took a grand total of 7.5 hours, 7 changes of CDs, one petrol refill, three bottles of coke, an apple, half a mega packet of Doritos and a packet of Starburst Fruit Gummies to reach Melbourne.

I didn't have a Melbourne road map, but that was OK, coz I have an unbeatable sense of direction, and I knew that the friend I was staying with lived off a main road in Kew, which I knew to be kinda near the CBD in a northeasterly direction. 2 hours later, after circling the area SO MANY BLOODY TIMES THAT I COULD DRIVE AROUND IT BLINDFOLDED, I finally stumbled upon the main road, and made it to Marijana's house. Thank God.

(If you're thinking the obvious thing would have been to just call Marijana and ask for directions, you're right... but as she's only been living in Melbourne for a couple of months, and doesn't have a car, it wouldn't have helped. And the service station guy who I asked to point me in the right direction was absolutely useless, too.)

Anyways, had a FABULOUS weekend in Melbourne - I love it! People in Melbourne are so much cooler, really - and you could wear anything at all in Melbourne and noone would look at you twice. I love the tree-lined streets, the funky cafes, the haphazard driving and the trams, the friendly people and, of course, the shopping. And I love that there are always people out and about, any time of day or night! It's a stark contrast to Canberra ;)

So over the weekend, I had the biggest shopping day I've ever had, ate way too much, caught up on all Marijana's goss, saw my sis and bro-in-law who happened to be holidaying in Melbourne, too, and before I knew it, it was time to hit the road again.

Have you ever noticed that anyone who's driving slower than you is a moron, and anyone who's driving faster is a complete maniac?? Well there was a maniac in a sporty red Mazda who cut me off early on in the drive back to Canberra - I kept pace with him for a while before coming to my senses and dropping back to a reasonable speed, and watching him zoom off into the distance. Imagine my satisfaction when about half an hour on, I saw the flashing red-and-blue lights, and Mr Maniac's car on the side of the road. Tee hee!

Next road trip TBA.

2004-04-15T14:50:00.000+08:00

Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy

Yes, it's true boys, a bit of chivalry certainly doesn't go astray...You can open a door for me or give me flowers any day!!

2004-04-13T10:58:00.000+08:00

Mad World

Song of the moment - Mad World, by Gary Jules and Michael Andrews, from the Donnie Darko soundtrack. I heard it on the radio on the weekend and it's been replaying in my head ever since... I must be a bit behind, since Donnie Darko was released ages ago! The original was by Tears for Fears, but I can't remember how it went. I loooove this song - haunting and beautiful.

2004-04-08T14:18:00.000+08:00

Mystify

Somebody out there came across my blog by doing a search for

boys who wear mary jane shoes get dominated by girls

Ummmm....is there something I'm missing???

Happy Easter everyone - hope you have a good long weekend - I am heading to Melbourne to catch up with a good friend and to do a teensy bit of shopping!

2004-04-07T10:44:00.000+08:00

Little Lies

I have always been an appalling liar. OK, occasionally I tell a white lie, but it never goes beyond a fib, because I am too convinced that whomever I am lying to will just know I am not telling the truth. Which is usually the case, since I don't have the confidence in my lying abilities to sound convincing! I think this dates back to my fear of my mother catching me in a lie - somehow, she could always spot a lie from a mile off, and I'd always get in more trouble than if I hadn't bothered to lie at all. Well, that's what she used to tell me, anyway.

In addition to my fear of being "caught out", there are some things that it would just never occur to me to lie about.

I was chatting to my housemates (Cookiemaster and Fitnessfreak) a couple of nights ago about the girl with whom they used to share the house, and to whom I am eternally grateful, as if she hadn't accepted a job transfer to Melbourne, I could well be living in a cardboard box right now. Or at least sharing a house with some unsavoury types. Anyways, my housemates shared the house with this girl for about 12 months. She was a lovely girl, lots of fun to be around, and she always had an interesting story to tell. Sadly, her father (back in Melbourne) was quite an ill man - he had problems with his heart, and had had a number of "episodes" in recent years, culminating with a heart attack around Christmas last year.

It was only as the months passed that my housemates began to suspect that this girl was perhaps "embellishing" her stories a tad. She convinced my flatmates that they should all go along to see the Lion King in Sydney, and offered to organise tickets. A week before the performance, the tickets still hadn't arrived in the mail, and when Cookiemaster asked if the tickets were on the way, this girl said yes yes, of course, they're coming. When they still hadn't arrived 2 days before the event, she said that she had rung Ticketmaster and they had advised that the tickets had been sent, but there had been a spate of "letterbox raidings" and someone may well have stolen their tickets.

Cookiemaster found out a little later that the flatmate had just changed her mind and decided she didn't want to see the Lion King after all.

So the ex-housemate is now living back in Melbourne. She really didn't want to leave Canberra - she really loved living here, and her job was great, and she enjoyed sharing a house with Cookiemaster and Fitnessfreak. But she felt she should take the transfer so she could be closer to her sick father, who had to have a double-bypass operation (NOT because her dodgy on/off boyfriend who's given her lots of grief lives there).

Dodgy on/off boyfriend rang Fitnessfreak a week or so ago to organise having ex-housemate's mail forwarded on:

Fitnessfreak: So how's is ex-housemate's dad going? I hope he's OK.

Dodgy on/off bf: ...um yeah, he's OK, a bit stressed I think but apart from that he's fine.

Fitnessfreak: Yeah, well I guess it would be a pretty stressful time, with the surgery and all.

Dodgy on/off bf: ....um...surgery?

Fitnessfreak: Yeah, I mean having a heart bypass is a pretty major operation, isn't it!

Dodgy on/off bf: .......

Fitnessfreak: But I guess having the operation is a good thing, if it means he won't have any more heart problems. It's just awful that he had that heart attack, and at Christmas, too!

Dodgy on/off bf: ....um...heart problems??

Hmmm. I guess our house is a much duller place with me around, lacking any compulsive creative lying instincts whatsoever.

2004-04-05T16:02:00.000+08:00

Cold, Cold Heart

I hate winter. I hate it when it is dark when I wake up in the morning, and dark when I leave work at night. I hate having cold hands, cold feet, and a cold nose, and I hate it when my ears get so cold that I get an earache. I hate looking out the window and seeing an overcast, grey sky. And I hate having to drag myself out of bed in the mornings when it's so warm and cozy under the covers.

I hear that winter comes early to Canberra. It's only April, and I'm already cold... I am not looking forward to the real winter, when the average maximum temperature is 12 degrees, and cars are covered with ice in the mornings. I must remember to run some anti-freeze coolant through my car some time in the near future, to stop the engine from freezing up.

3 Day Forecasts:

Wednesday
Clearing shower
Min: 10C Max: 19C

Thursday
Fine
Min: 5C Max: 18C

Friday
Fine. Possible morning fog
Min: 6C Max: 21C

Take me back to balmy Perth!!

3 Day Forecasts:

Wednesday
Thunderstorm developing
Min: 12C Max: 30C

Thursday
Fine, cloudy
Min: 14C Max: 28C

Friday
Fine
Min: 14C Max: 24C

2004-04-01T14:35:00.000+08:00

Hangin' Around

It's been a busy week or so at work, which is why I haven't posted anything for a little while. Now that things have slowed down, I feel at a bit of a loose end. Being a born procrastinator, I think I need a bit of pressure to push me to do things - nothing like a good deadline for a bit of motivation. That was always my attitude at school and uni, too... I can't remember a single occasion when I actually finished an assignment ahead of a due date, or felt prepared for an exam before the day of the exam (and half the time I didn't feel prepared when I was in the exam!)

A down side of not having posted for a while is that I feel like I should write something profound or at least interesting here, but I'm afraid that nothing inspiring springs to mind. I was supposed to be going to see the Counting Crows in concert tonight - but due to a death in the drummer's family, they've pulled the plug on their tour. Very disappointing since they were the only decent band that I'd heard had plans to come to Canberra!

Hmm, since I have nothing interesting to say, I might just play with the colours and text instead, and give you this link which demonstrates the superior intellect of judges...

2004-03-25T14:17:00.000+08:00

Who Are You?

I'd like to think this is fairly accurate...not convinced on the decisive count, though - I usually have terrible trouble making up my mind!! :) The quiz has quite an interesting analysis of different personality types - if you do it yourself, have a look at all the results to see where you fit in the spectrum of personality types.

Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.

2004-03-24T11:28:00.000+08:00

Freak Out!

I don't consider myself to be overly squeamish or to have an excessive phobia of any kind of creepy crawlies. OK, so maybe I would stand on a chair and yell to my Dad for help if one of those disgusting, huge, flying cockroaches appeared near me, but they really are the most repulsive insects. And aside from cockroaches, I'm fine with all manner of multi-legged fauna.

You know there's a "but" coming, right...

My Monday morning shower was as enjoyable as Monday morning showers generally are. You know how it goes...you're half awake and you know you need to make it quick coz you're already running late for work, but it's a pretty chilly morning (we *are* in Canberra, remember) and the hot water is just divine...so I put off getting out of the shower as long as possible, before finally reaching for my towel. I flung it around my shoulders, and started drying off...and noticed that a HUGE scary brown spider was crawling on the towel, and was about 3 inches from my face! I didn't even have time to scream, just gasped and managed to flick the spider off the towel and into the shower (where I am afraid it suffered an unfortunate death by drowning).

I was shaking for about 10 mins afterwards, and for the rest of the day I felt phantom spider legs crawling all over me - up my leg, in my hair, across my arm... I developed a real spider paranoia. And to make it worse, when I got home from work that day and recounted my traumatic experience to my flat mate, she was like "oh, yeah, I noticed last night that there were two massive spiders on the ceiling in the hallway..." - TWO??!?! You mean there's another one lurking around the house somewhere, waiting for an unsuspecting foot to be inserted into a shoe, or hiding amongst the blankets on an unmade bed, or....eeeek! There are so many great hiding places for a spider in my room!!

The spider looked something like this - I think you'll agree that any rational person would be freaked out to find one of these sitting inches from their face!

[As an aside, if you're into gruesome stuff, while I was trying to find a pic of my spider friend, I came across this interesting piece about the victim of a brown recluse spider bite - thankfully it's a spider not found in Australia! Though we have the icky funnel web monster to compete...]

2004-03-16T10:06:00.000+08:00

My Guy

I am happy to say that there is a new boy in my life. We only met on the weekend, but I think I can safely say that he's already stolen my heart. He's just gorgeous - cute, athletic, clever, and he makes me laugh. I just know that he's gonna be an important part of my life from now on.

He's a bit of a bed hogger, though.

His name is Oscar, and he's an 8 week old ginger and white kitten. I saw him in the window of a pet shop in Woden Plaza on Saturday, and just couldn't resist his sweet little face - half an hour later, he was mine. I've been wanting to get a cat ever since I moved out of home and left Sooky behind, but my parents always managed to talk me out of it - a pet will tie you down, it'll make it harder to find somewhere to rent, you won't be able to go on holidays, you won't be able to move overseas - and as always, my parents are right...but it's much easier to ignore their good advice from the other side of the country!! And I think my hankering to get a kitty was exacerbated by recently reading a few cat-friendly blogs, like Web Goddess (who also acquired a kitty recently), Myrr Purrs and Catboy.

Anyways, I am over the moon to have a beautiful kitty in my life again. He's settling in to the house well (although he hasn't quite sussed out Max, the dog, properly yet - he still arches his back and fluffs up his little tail when the dog is around - but I think he's getting better). He's very adventurous, and quite a skilled climber - he has struggled his way up to the top of my clothes airer a few times, to catch those pesky socks - and he's already affectionate, and purrs for no reason at all. Love him to bits!

In other weekend news, the French Film Festival opened on Friday night, with a brilliant film - Bon Voyage. I can't speak highly enough about it - anyone in an Australian city other than Canberra, please go to see it when the FFF arrives in your city - you'll love it! Well I did, anyway.

2004-03-11T08:07:00.000+08:00

What's Going On?

I was interested to see the issue of "not enough male teachers in our schools" pop up recently. Apparently only 1 in 5 primary school teachers, and less than half high school teachers, are male. The argument is that the teaching profession needs to be more gender-balanced, as boys need male role models and influences, and this is evidenced by the fact that boys are apparently falling behind girls academically. To fix this problem, the Federal Government has introduced to Parliament a proposed amendment to the Sex Discrimination Act, to allow scholarships for teaching to be offered to men only. The Bill was introduced in the House of Reps yesterday by Phillip Ruddock - you can read his Second Reading Speech here (at p 7).

I don't disagree that we need more male teachers - but this proposed amendment makes me really angry. Why should men receive a financial advantage over women to encourage them to become teachers?? How can this but devalue females in the teaching profession?? This doesn't address the root of the problem - as discussed in this article, one of the basic reasons that men don't enter or stick around the teaching profession is because they can earn more money elsewhere. And this results from teaching being viewed as a "female" profession, one which doesn't require as much skill as the traditionally male professions. Surely a better response would be to consider paying ALL teachers what they really deserve - I think it is generally accepted that teachers are grossly underpaid. But because women have been willing to work for the low salary that teachers receive, this isn't seen as an issue, and raising salaries generally is not even considered. Instead, the easy (and cheaper) solution is to amend the Sex Discrimination Act to allow this blatant discrimination, and to begin to erode the principles behind the SDA, and any credence attached to it.

Does the government intend to allow scholarship schemes to encourage women to enter traditionally male dominated professions?? Surely it is equally important that women are equally represented, for example, in Parliament?? After all, women constitute slightly more than 50% of Australia's population - isn't it imperative, then, that to have a truly representative democracy, around 50% of parliamentarians are female?? So where is the program to financially encourage women to run for election??

I’m not advocating special financial assistance for women to promote their entry into professions where they are underrepresented - I think that the price of education, available scholarships, job availability and promotions should not be dependent on gender. But the lack of women in certain professions IS a real problem. It concerns me that addressing the shortage of male teachers has taken such priority with the government, yet it is not an issue that women are acutely underrepresented in so many professions, and are *still* being paid significantly less than men across the board.

Grrr, makes me so angry!!!

*steps down off soap box*

2004-03-10T09:49:00.000+08:00

Jump Around

House Gymnastics... it's the new Yoga. Just too funny!!

2004-03-08T13:42:00.000+08:00

Money, Money, Money...

Here's an interesting article from today's Melbourne Age, commenting on the still existent pay gap between men and women in the Australian workforce.

2004-03-08T10:22:00.000+08:00

I Don't Like Mondays

Weekend wrap:

- Cary Grant was always such a suave charmer, a real gentleman... there's something so lovely about watching a movie where the male lead is a gorgeous, clean cut smooth talker who wears a suit and tie the entire length of a film (even when he's getting it on with the love interest) and whose most profane line is "Why the devil have you brought me here?!".

- My hair is short again. Not as short short as it has been before, but pretty close... I love it! Tip re getting a haircut - don't wear sleeper earrings - the hairdresser's comb kept getting caught in them which was really annoying!

- My (second hand) $125 Phillips 300L fridge is being delivered to my house this evening. Yay for cold milk, juice and veg!

- The bike riding didn't go so well. Ie, the bike didn't leave the house. Well, it was raining for much of the weekend - that's my excuse, anyway. Ditto for the swimming.

- Chocolat was a fantastic book - highly recommend it - although I wasn't quite satisfied with the ending. I might have to rent the video now.

- French homework all done. Tres bien. (This is the first time I've done it before the class...)

- I now own a new charcoal grey suit from Portmans - tailored jacket and knee length skirt. Nice new work shoes, too - mary jane style.

- I should learn to read my emails properly. I was running late for High Tea at the Hyatt (had been to look at the 2nd hand fridge, and got hopelessly lost driving around one of Canberra's outer suburbs...) and when I messaged the organiser to say I'd be there soon, she rang to let me know that I was actually running two weeks early...

- Fireworks are good, but not so good to watch when it's drizzling with rain. On the other hand, drinks at the Wig & Pen are ideal on a rainy Saturday night.

- Canberra actually has some decent wineries. Plenty of good tastings were to be had a the Taste of Canberra festival on Sunday, including some delicious fruit wines - wooded apple, and cherry were my favourites.

...and now it's back to work...if you're bemoaning how bad your boss is, check out some of the comments on this blog entry, on the topic of the most insane thing your boss has said to you.

2004-03-05T14:09:00.000+08:00

Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon

Things I plan to do this weekend:

- Go to watch "North by Northwest" tonight
- Get a haircut (it's driving me mad - haven't had it cut in months!!)
- Buy a fridge
- Ride my bike in to work so I can see how long it takes (and whether I can make it!)
- Finish reading Chocolat
- Do my French homework
- Find a local swimming pool and go for a swim
- Buy a new suit
- Have High Tea at the Hyatt
- Check out "Skyfire" with a picnic dinner on Saturday night
- Go to the Taste of Canberra festival on Sunday

...and somewhere in there fit in a bit of cleaning around the house!!

2004-03-03T07:19:00.000+08:00

What's new pussycat?

If you live in South Australia, your days for eating cats and dogs are numbered. In October last year, the Summary Offences (Consumption of Dogs and Cats) Bill was introduced in SA Parliament - it has just passed both houses and is awaiting royal assent. The Bill provides that human consumption of meat from a cat or dog, or preparation of meat from cats or dogs for human consumption, is an offence, with a maximum penalty of $1250 fine. A similar bill has been introduced in Victoria.

Hmmm, I love cats and dogs, and abhor cruelty to animals generally, but it strikes me as a little ridiculous that a law is being passed to prohibit people from EATING them - why exactly do they feel it's necessary to pass a law like this?? Is eating cats and dogs such a widespread practice?? And how exactly does one go about policing a law like this?? And what about guinea pigs, birds and aquarium fish???

2004-02-27T14:06:00.000+08:00

Our House

I officially have a new residence! It's a little old 3-beddie in a suburb called Garran, which is a 10-min drive from the city, and from Barton, where I'm working. I moved in on Wednesday night, and all my belongings from Perth were delivered yesterday morning. It was kinda exciting to open up the cartons and unpack it all - I had forgotten half of the stuff that I'd decided to bring over!! Almost like Christmas, except all the boxes were for me! So many clothes - it's great to have more than 3 shirts to choose from.

I'm sharing the house with 2 other girls (who are sisters), and a little black and white terrier called Max. I suspect the house was built in the 70s...it features lovely greeny-yellow pile carpet, and my room has fantastic orange curtains. My orange-and-brown striped blanket (donated by my mother) matches just perfectly, and overall the room would do quite nicely as a set for the Brady Bunch. BUT on the plus side, I have a HUGE amount of wardrobe and cupboard space, and I have two big windows and ducted gas heating, which I'm sure will come in very handy in those "mild" winter months.

I've done well with my housemates, too - at the risk of jinxing it, I think we're gonna get along pretty well. The first night in the house, I went out to meet up for coffee with a friend who was over from Perth, and when I got home (quite late), I found the girls had left a doona, pillow and sheets in my room for me - they saw the bare bed, and figured that I wouldn't have any linen until the next day when my stuff was delivered. Nice, huh! :) And they've invited me to go for a drink with them and *another* sister tonight - I'm feeling like part of the family already!!

2004-02-25T05:51:00.000+08:00

Here Comes the Rain

When I told people that I was moving to Canberra, the general reaction was "oh no, Canberra's so boring...oh well, at least you'll be closer to Sydney and Melbourne". OK, so there are no beaches in Canberra, and the night life is may not be so happening, but from what I have seen in the last 3 weeks, there's plenty of stuff to keep you busy, if you look for it.

On the weekend, one of my good friends (we went to primary school together many years ago!) drove down from Sydney for a visit. And as Dave said in his blog, there are lots of things to see and do in Canberra. On Saturday evening we enjoyed a bit of jazz in the Botanical Gardens, and on Sunday we did a tour of the National Museum and Parliament House.

Parliament House was very impressive - it's a huge complex, with a grand entry hall of marble floors and pillars and a huge staircase leading up into the building. Apparently there are 23km of corridors within the complex! And the Aussie flag flying from the 81m flagpole crowning Parliament House is the size of the side of a double decker bus. I was also fascinated to find that PH holds an original copy of the Magna Carta - one of only 4 thought to still be in existence!! It's pretty incredible that a document from the 1200s is still around. It's stored in a case filled with argon gas so that the vellum doesn't deteriorate any further.

While the "tourist attractions" of Canberra still have novelty appeal, the climate is not looking so great (surprise, surprise, I hear you say!). When I first arrived, the weather was hot and sunny - not much different from Perth except it was getting a little cooler at night. The turning point was Sunday night, when I went to Tropfest, which was being screened at an outdoor venue next to Lake Burley Griffin - just perfect for a balmy summer's eve. Only hitch was that it was not quite so balmy - in fact, it was downright miserable - the temperature dropped to 14 degrees, and it was spitting with rain for the entire 2.5 hours of the show. But this didn't deter those sturdy Canberrans - 7000 of them turned up to enjoy the short films (which I must say were well worth braving the weather - there are some very creative, talented Aussies out there!) and while this pales in comparison to Sydney's 105,000-strong audience, I thought it wasn't a bad effort!!

The weather hasn't improved since Sunday - it has remained cold and grey and dreary. I suspect that this is a sign of things to come - not looking forward to Canberra winter at all - but I hope there are still a few days of summer on the way!

2004-02-20T08:59:00.000+08:00

Say Goodbye to Hollywood

Tropfest 2004 is on this Sunday...it's a festival showcasing the 16 best short films selected out of 666 (I wonder if that's signficant?!) entries from across Australia. Screening in a capital city near you. Best of all, it's free! So go along and enjoy some good Aussie pieces.

2004-02-18T15:26:00.000+08:00

Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien

About half way through Year 11, I developed a grand plan for my final year of high school. I decided that I was going to drop Biology and take up French as a TEE subject. My sudden and passionate interest in French was the result of a combination of factors - my intense dislike of the Biology teacher (who had an apparent fetish for wearing rather short, tight skirts, sat strategically on a lab bench while flirting with the boys in our class, and didn't seem to know all that much about Biology...on reflection, she may have been going through a mid-life crisis, but at the time, I felt very little sympathy for her); the fact that the small French class consisted of my best friend, two other girls I got on with very well, and two spunky boys; and, of course, the way the French accent just sounds so damn sexy!

So my friend began teaching me the basics of French during our Chemistry classes. While the Chem professor, a mad but loveable Irish gentleman, was gesticulating wildly and discussing the properties of transition metals and explaining how to balance chemical equations, Minh would be instructing me on the conjugation of various irregular verbs. It wasn't long before I had a few of the tenses under control, had worked out the feminine/masculine article thing, and had convinced the French teacher to let me into her class.

One thing I hadn't counted on, though, was my mother...who took my education, and my potential TEE score, extremely seriously. She has somewhat of a bad reaction to my flippant "oh, guess what, I've decided to do French next year". Our pursuant "arguments" generally followed the pattern that she would lecture me for a length of time on all the reasons why taking up French in my final year of school was an absolutely ridiculous idea, I would endure silently until she'd run out of breath, and stubbornly say that I was still gonna do it. This went on for the entire 4th term of year 11, and the following summer holidays. After my mother went to the length of arranging a meeting between herself, my dad, me and my HEADMASTER, to discuss why it was such a bad idea, I finally backed down and gave up on studying French, so as not to damage my TEE mark and jeopardise my chances of getting into a uni course with a high cut-off mark.

I got 86% for Biology, and was accepted into UWA to study a Law and Science double degree.

But I've never quite gotten over missing out on learning the language of lovers...

So when I found out I was moving to Canberra, I decided that now was the time to do something about it. I enrolled in a French course the second day I was here, and voila! I had my first class last night. With the French instructor's very first "je m'appelle", the labours of my Chem lessons all began flooding back to me. So I'm looking forward to acquiring that sexy accent and dropping my "H"s with ze best of zem.

2004-02-16T14:34:00.000+08:00

Paperback Writer

Oh no! One of my favourite (and fellow Aussie) bloggers Missjenjen has taken her blog offline, hopefully temporarily, reason being that she's been dooced (see Pixelkitty's explanation here) which I guess means that co-workers or bosses discovered her blog and were none too happy at some of the entries describing themselves and the work environment (a la Ass Hats #s 1 and 2)...Not good! Ah well, at least she had already quit her job, so the fallout can't be *too* bad...

Come back soon Missjenjen!!

2004-02-13T12:31:00.000+08:00

Welcome to the Monkey House

Greetings from Canberra. I arrived here last Wednesday, with 40kgs of luggage in tow (incredibly, the woman who checked me in at Perth airport didn't even comment on my luggage being 18kg over the limit), and was whisked by taxi to my serviced apartment in Manuka, a tres trendy (well, for Canberra, anyway) area south of Lake Burley-Griffin populated by yuppie public servants and cool cafes and restaurants. Fortunately there's a 24-hr Coles (I don't think Perth has any of these - that's one up for Canberra!) at Manuka Plaza, which is about 5 mins walk from my apartment, so I was able to pick up a few essential groceries (read: chocolate biscuits!) on my first night without too much hassle.

Then it was on to surfing the channels on the TV in my apartment - which has been a regular theme for my evenings so far! I get Showtime and Encore, so I've spent a good few evenings flicking between movies, and also taking in some reality TV (Average Joe - how could Melana have kept Zach on - he is such a tosser! and My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance - pretty funny stuff). Asides from TV watching, I've spent a bit of time meeting friends of friends - I've been really impressed at how many people have gone out of their way to ring me/email me to organise dinner, drinks or to show me around Canberra. It has somewhat restored my faith that there really are nice people out there! (Thanks, too, to friends and fam from Perth who've rung or emailed me (and my sister who stayed with me for 2 days) and made my first week much less lonely than it otherwise would've been!!)

The job is going fairly well so far - although my workstation is *RIGHT* outside the CEO's office door, and in the small area we work in, everyone can hear every word of any telephone conversation - which means all the time I would've ordinarily wasted on personal calls has actually been spent productively! Looks like I'll be doing some interesting work - for example, I've been looking at some new legislation (the Spam Act) which is set to take effect from April, to work out how the organisation will need to change its procedures to make sure its emails comply with the Act. Sounds fascinating, huh :)

The search for somewhere to live has been an experience - work is putting me up in the serviced apartment for 3 weeks only (damn! I am getting so used to fresh towels every day and chocolates on my pillow...) so I've been looking for a room in a share house or apartment. All the places I've seen so far have their good points - but none have been ideal. The first apartment I looked at was nice and new, with my own bathroom, but approx 20 min drive from work (ridiculously far in Canberra terms!). Second one was much closer to work, but the guy I'd be sharing with was a complete tosser - an unsociable, egotistical, anal, money-hungry loser, so I've pretty much written that apartment off! The last place is the best contender at the moment - a 3 bed, 1 bath house that I'd be sharing with 2 sisters who seemed really lovely. Only problem is the 1 bathroom - not ideal when you like to indulge in long, hot showers as much as I do...

So that's a wrap on my first week and a half in Canberra, on the whole it's made a fairly good impression on me - especially now that I have my car, it's so easy to get around (and the roads are just fantastic - no traffic and in great condition - good to see taxpayers' money being put to good use!;), the weather has been pleasant so far (nice and hot!) and the city is quite pretty. There are big, shady deciduous green trees planted along most of the streets, and lots of recreational park land and reserves, which add to the relaxed atmosphere. The few times I've been in to Civic (the "city centre", if you can call it that) it's been full of people - mainly due to the (sure to be short-lived) warm weather, and to a multicultural festival that was held last weekend.

Heading off "home" now - bring on the weekend!!

2004-01-30T14:49:00.000+08:00

Goodnight, Sweetheart

I'll be out of blogging action for the next 10 days or so - won't have access to a computer till I start my new job on Monday 9 Feb. Canberra, here I come! I'm looking forward to a new beginning and checking out some unfamiliar scenery. I've lived in Perth all my life, and have probably gotten a little too comfortable here, so I guess it's about time to make a move somewhere different. Lucerne or Vancouver would have been preferable, but you gotta start somewhere, right?? :)

Catch you soon.

2004-01-27T15:32:00.000+08:00

Sounds of Then (This is Australia)

Perth's annual SkyShow was held last night in celebration of Australia Day - the biggest fireworks display for Aussie Day in the country, apparently. It's the one day of the year when Perthites flock to vantage points in King's Park and on the shores of the Swan River in huge numbers, usually toting an esky full of beer and a footy. They arrive at the designated area early in the afternoon, and stake out their spot until the "sky lights up" at 8pm, for a 1/2 hour show. I decided to forego the crowds this year and take advantage of the great view from my office building - not quite the same atmosphere as being one of thousands on the foreshore and smelling the gunpowder as fireworks explode, but no fighting for blanketspace!! And I don't regret my choice, either, reading this today - I suppose it doesn't get more Aussie than drunken yobbos starting brawls on a hot summer's night. In the immortal words of Alf Stewart - flamin' galahs...

Continuing on the Australian theme, I was at a friend's place on Sunday night, and we happened across a program all about that perilous place that is our nation, aptly titled "Don't Go There". I think it was filmed with the sole purpose of scaring off any Brits who are thinking of holidaying in or immigrating to Australia. One particular story on the show described the "hellish" experience of a pommie backpacker who decided he would cycle through Kakadu National Park. Yep, that's right - ride a bike through Kakadu. Sounds like SO MUCH FUN. So he takes off on his bike, and surprise, surprise - he gets a puncture. And while he's mending the tyre, he gets rather thirsty and drinks his entire supply of water. Honestly, I think Australian immigration should do basic intelligence tests on visitors so that idiots like this don't make it into the country!!! The rest of the story described this guy's "extreme annoyance" at having to share his tent with mosquitoes (yes, we have mozzies, get some damn Aerogard!) and his very thirsty and hot ride in seek of water.

There were a couple of genuinely scary creatures mentioned on this show, however - like the Funnel Web spider - thank God we don't get them on this side of the country! They are the most venomous spider in the world, are very aggressive, and are big, black and ugly. But wait, there more - they can survive up to 30 hours submerged in water - just when you thought it was safe to take a dip in your pool.... Eeek!

Speaking of scary Aussie beasties brings to mind that great Aussie icon and hero, our very own croc hunter, Steve Irwin. Even scarier than the crocs is the fact that Stevo is probably one of the best-known Australians internationally...I was appalled to see him on a TV screen in the airport at Honolulu recently, while I was waiting for my flight back to Perth. Yes, folks, people the world wide have seen footage of Steve Irwin holding his newly born baby in one arm, with a croc less than a metre away. Worse still, excerpts of an interview in which Stevie was outraged at the media attention and was defending his actions, in the most ocker accent I've ever heard, were also screened across the globe. Seeing those excerpts, I was acutely embarrassed to be an Australian.

Thank goodness that our international reputation can be salvaged by worthy, fearless and intelligent leaders who insist, despite a lack of any evidence whatsoever, that weapons of mass destruction really do exist and our participation in the Iraq "intervention" really was warranted, and courageously follow in America's heedless footsteps. Aussie Aussie Aussie - oi oi oi!!!

Cringeworthy events and actions aside, I am *generally* proud to be an Aussie...we have done some pretty cool stuff...and most of the time we're not such bad folks...

2004-01-22T10:16:00.000+08:00

My Favourite Things - Part I: Movies

I have a bit of spare time on my hands at the moment (haven't received any work from Canberra yet, and noone around here wants me to get involved in any of their matters since I'll be gone soon...and, btw, I am booked on a flight on Wednesday 4 February - so soon!) so I thought I would indulge and write the first in a series of rundowns on various categories of my favourite things! I'll try to limit each list to 10. We'll start with movies, in no particular order (there are so many great movies, each of which I like for different reasons).

The Princess Bride: As Fred Savage's grandfather says at the beginning of the film, this movie has everything - fencing, fighting, revenge, an evil prince, true love, shrieking eels, rodents of unusual size - the works! This is a timeless movie that I can watch over and over again, and it never fails to cheer me up. Great for a laugh.

Clue: A madcap caper! Based on the boardgame "Cluedo", a number of people are invited for dinner on a stormy night to a scary looking mansion by a mysterious host, who it turns out has been blackmailing each of the guests. A series of murders follow, with everyone who's still alive a suspect, and the butler leads a hilarious chase to find the murderer. Classic quote from Mrs White, when she's discussing her dead (3rd) husband: "men should be like Kleenex - soft, strong and disposable".

Mulholland Drive: I really like David Lynch's bizarre take on things, and love that his movies defy logic and leave you confused and wondering. I enjoy the mystery and unpredictability, and trying to work out how it all ties together. Mulholland Drive is the best I've seen so far of Lynch's work - with a stellar performance from Naomi Watts as the stars-in-her-eyes innocent and hopeful Betty.

Heaven: A beautiful movie. I've yet to see a Cate Blanchett movie that I haven't liked, and this is definitely her best.

The Apartment: One of the things I really appreciate about "non-Hollywood" movies is that generally they rely so much less on dialogue and things being spelled out - it takes a lot more skill to paint a story using imagery, symbolism and filming technique, and it takes actors who can convey their feelings effectively without words. The Apartment is a great example of this - a French film following Vincent Cassel and the love of his life through a series of flashbacks. Brilliant.

Better Off Dead: An obscure 80s teen comedy featuring a very young and cute John Cusack, whose girlfriend has dumped him and is now dating the captain of the school ski team. He's obsessed with winning her back, and his bizarre snow- and jelly-snorting friend, kooky family and neighbours don't make his life any easier. Absolutely hilarious.

The Sound of Music: What a classic movie - they just don't make films like this any more! I loved Julie Andrews in this. A great family film.

Dead Man Walking: I've only seen this movie once, but it made such a huge impact on me, and cemented my abhorrence of capital punishment. Directed brilliantly by Tim Robbins, it's based on the real life experiences of Sr Helen Prejean and her interactions with/counselling of persons on Death Row waiting to receive their lethal injection. It was very emotionally draining to watch, but it was great to see such an honest portrayal of a rapist/killer and his eventual acceptance of his crime and his fate. Excellent performances from Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn.

Charade: Cary Grant was a smooth and suave old-school charmer, and Audrey Hepburn - well, she was just graceful and gorgeous. Charade is an entertaining thriller/mystery/romance - a real classic.

The Neverending Story: I loved this movie as a kid. I think there's a bit of Bastian in everyone - we all want to escape reality and find a world where we are the hero. A great fantasy movie.

2004-01-21T09:41:00.000+08:00

Bookends Theme

I have a compilation CD of Simon & Garfunkel playing in my car at the moment - what musical geniuses they are (although in my opinion their joint work far outshines their individual pieces, particularly Paul Simon's). There's one particular little melody on the album called "Bookends Theme" which only runs for about a minute, but is one of the saddest little songs I've heard:

Time it was, and what a time it was, it was
A time of innocence, a time of confidences
Long ago, it must be, I have a photograph
Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you

It's a really simple song, with vocals accompanied by a single guitar fingerpicking the melody, and nothing else (guitar tab is here for anyone who's a muso). But there's just something about it that never fails to tug at my heart strings a little - perhaps also because the first time I heard it was while watching an episode of The Wonder Years, one of my favourite TV shows, during a particularly poignant scene. (As an aside, there was some brilliant 60s music played throughout Wonder Years episodes - check here.)

Anyways, I can't hear the Bookends Theme without getting a little reminiscent and sad about the days of yore, and thinking back to all those growing up experiences... and this leads me to one of my serious problems - my inability to throw ANYTHING out, for fear of losing the sentimental value attached to it. My family will attest to my disfunctionality in this area - my collection of crap includes all of my old toys and stuffed animals, all of my files and work books and notes from uni, high school, and even primary school (you never know when you might need them!), movie ticket stubs dating back to the early 80s, stationery (I am a big stationery freak - huge collection of patterned envelopes (not that I ever write any letters!), coloured pens, textas, pencils etc etc) and all other kinds of miscellaneous, useless rubbish.

The worst part is, that when I am trying to sort through things and pack things up, I inevitably end up spending the vast majority of my time looking through all this stuff and remembering little incidents associated with them. Like the container full of hole punch punchings that my friend and I were going to make a fortune out of in Year 4 by selling it as confetti. Or the list of Christmas songs with the lyrics rewritten to become songs about the teachers at my primary school. Or the pocket Nintendo games (remember Donkey Kong??) that I used to play when on long car trips with my family.

I blame Simon & Garfunkel entirely. Gotta preserve those memories.

2004-01-20T14:47:00.000+08:00

Moving on Up

Well, it's official...I am off to Can-brrrrrr-a, our nation's lovely capital, for a 12 month work jaunt. It has all been organised so quickly - I got back to work here in Perth last Monday, thinking it would be back to business as usual, and my supervisor asked if I'd be interested in taking up a position working with the CEO and executive team in our Canberra office, and could I let him know my decision by the following day (!!!). I'd had a bit of advanced warning, as I was contacted (unofficially) while I was on holidays and told that this position may be available, but I had been pretty sure that the position would've gone to someone else by the time I got back.

So I had a chat to the Director of our office in Perth, and spoke to the person who just finished up in the position. It's a term position - they like to get fairly junior staff to act in the role and get a bit of experience, then move on so that someone else can give it a go for a year. I figured it sounds like a fantastic career move, hobnobbing with the big guns (and hopefully not getting them offside!), and I like the fact that it's gonna involve lots of project-based work relating to the inner cogs and wheels of the organisation. It's gonna be more of a sideways move than an upwards one (career wise and geographically!), but I don't mind this, as I'm not certain that this career is for me anyway.

So, I "expressed my interest" in taking up the position, and next thing I know, I've fallen into it! And because the position has been vacant for a little while (is this a bad sign??), they are keen to get me over to Canberra as soon as possible, which means starting work in Canberra in early Feb. When things happen around here (which is not all that often), by golly they happen fast!

I'm hoping I can handle 12 months in Canberra - I know it's not the most exciting city in the world, and has occasionally been described as somewhat sterile...but I think there'll be lots of young people in a similar situation to me, who are away from their home city and are transient, so hopefully it won't take too long to settle in and get to know a few people. And it's so close to Sydney and Melbourne - will be a great opportunity to catch up with some interstate friends on weekends!! But I am really gonna miss my family, and Perth friends, and the beach...

2004-01-16T18:08:00.000+08:00

What's Up

Last Sunday was the hottest January day in Perth in 6 years (got up to 40.5 degrees, I think), so Allen and I decided to wait until late afternoonish to head down to the beach for a swim. I didn't want to hang out at one of the "popular" beaches and have to fight for towel space, so we headed just south of City Beach, to the beach that borders on the dog beach (where I have taken Deefa, my loveable, dopey cocker spaniel a coupla times for a run - too hot for him this day though!) and the crowd was a much more reasonable size. The water was just perfect - clear and a gorgeous shade of aquamarine, and was refreshingly icy. (I must say that beaches in Hawaii just have nothing on Perth beaches - they are much rockier due to the islands being volcanic - I was kinda horrified but amused to find out that all of the sand on what is probably the most popular beach in the world, Waikiki, is imported from Australia!).

So anyways, Al and I are having a bit of a dip, and I notice a couple of women swimming near us, whose husbands are waiting back on the sand for them. One of them looks (and sounds) vaguely familiar, and I realise that she resembles one of the teachers from my old high school, whom I haven't seen for probably 6 years. And this wasn't just any teacher - this was the one that all the guys at school wanted, and all the girls (me included) wanted to be - when I was in year 10, she was fresh out of uni, enthusiastic, intelligent, athletic, blonde and generally gorgeous. So I look over a couple of times, trying to work out if it's her, and figuring that I won't have to talk to her in any event, coz there's no way she'll remember little ol' me. I'm watching discreetly as she gets out of the water and heads up to hubby (noticing, smugly, that she's gained 1 or 2 kilos) and she looks right at me and does this little wave. I kinda just smile and nod, thinking bugger, how do I get out of this awkward situation - am I supposed to go up and say hello, or just play it cool?

So I delay for a little while, as she stands on the beach with hubby and friend couple, looking like they're going to leave...but they don't. So I drag Allen out and say we gotta go say hello, and dry off and delay a little more (after all, can't really interrupt when she's apparently engrossed in conversation with the 3 others...) and eventually hubby and male friend head up the path to the carpark, so I deem it safe to approach. Allen tags along behind, and her friend abandons her as we get closer. We exchange the usual pleasantries, what have you been up to, you must be nearly finished uni by now (yeah, I've been working 2 years now), are you still teaching (yeah but I am 5 months pregnant) - woah, hold up, well I guess that explains the extra kilo or two!!

At the end of the whole conversation I was left feeling, I dunno, a little disappointed that this woman that I just worshipped in high school is living such a "normal" and maybe mundane existence... happily married with hubby and starting a family, still living in Perth and maybe continuing to teach part time once the bub is born. Now, I know this is a perfectly fine and worthy vocation, which many people would totally envy, and if she's happy with it (which she totally seemed to be) then that's great - but to me, a life like that just seems to be lacking - I expected much more earth-shattering and worldly accomplishments and goals from someone that I thought so highly of. I don't want to find myself in that kind of position in 7 years' time - but I am afraid that I'll get to 31, look back and wonder what have I achieved in the last 10 years??! Even worse, I may get there, find that I am still single, and be insanely jealous of my friends who are married and starting a family. And that really scares me.