WE STARTED EVERYTHING.

Sharehouse Tales III - "How's moving out?"

2012-01-17T03:11:00.002+11:00

Great, I'm loving it, I've been really lucky to get a fantastic house and fantastic housemates, I usually respond. It's true - I definitely I'm happier now than I was a year ago. But it wasn't always sunshine and daisies. In fact, I was pretty miserable for the first few weeks, especially when it came to dinner time. It took some getting used to, having to buy the cheapest take out I could find and eating it alone rather than coming home to a hot meal with my Mum and brother. I hadn't gotten the hang of buying my own groceries and couldn't really cook anyways because we were still lacking a lot of kitchen essentials.

While everything at home was a mess, uni was getting messier with the first wave of assessments. In between writing essays I would have to make lists of essentials that I was missing, and then come up with the cheapest and practical way of acquiring them, and then spend half a day getting them and organising them. And then take a shower and realise I forgot a whole bunch of bathroom things. Throw in the phone calls from my Mum demanding that I go home immediately because of some "emergency" - which usually turned out to be something incredibly minor, something I could have done over the phone.

For about two solid weeks I also didn't have a desk at home, so I stayed late at the library nearly every night and battled my way through the blustery winter winds in the dark to get home because I wanted to save on bus fare. And when I got home the house was usually silent and dark with my housemates either gone to bed early or staying at their parents. I also started to get paranoid that my housemates didn't really like me, or that I would be the fourth random girl in the house while the rest of them became best buddies. No, I wasn't in a great state of mind.

But it's true, when things are that bad it can only get better. Once we got most things in the house in order and warmed up to each other along with the weather and I became my less paranoid self, I began to enjoy the fact that it only took me 15 minutes (10 if I ran) to get to uni, didn't have my dear Mum scrutinising how often I washed my jeans and could eat whatever and wherever I fancied. And now, life is great.

2011-12-24T00:01:00.001+11:00

My brother and I playing with our new toys - him with his balloon animal set, and I with my new camera.

2011-12-23T13:52:00.000+11:00

I just finished my one-year shopping ban. I celebrated by buying new clogs from Funkis and then rewarded myself with a new SLR camera. Slightly ironic, but then when I think about it the whole thing was full of irony, anyways. The original purpose of it was to 1. remove my mental association of buying new clothes with happiness 2. refrain from mindless consumerism. I was a bit lenient though, and ended up buying some new underwear (because I actually needed it) and also borrowed clothes from everyone, from my brother to my mother to my housemates. So one year later I have acquired some new clothes.Even so, because I wasn't able to acquire them on a whim, I had to pay more attention to what I already owned. I've come to realise what looks good on me and what I can't live without, which I hope will help me be more selective when purchasing clothes in the future. (I've found that one method to distinguish between what I really like or need and what is just a passing fad or infatuation is to wait for a month, or at least 3 weeks. If I still am thinking about it, then it's worth it. If it's sold out or no longer available, then it just wasn't meant to be. If I no longer want it or I've completely forgotten about it, then it proves that you probably wouldn't have worn it if you bought it.) I've also become quite emotionally attached to some of my clothes which is slightly worrying, though. On a less superficial level, it has helped my step away from mindless consuming. It wasn't easy - the first couple of months I actually went through what felt like a complete mental readjustment. Sometimes I felt like a bit of a social outcast because I couldn't participate in this pervasive activity. But luckily most of my friends and family are not those SHOPPING IS MY FAVOURITE HOBBY kind of people so about six months in I got used to it and it just became almost like a background thing that I hardly noticed. Sort of like an allergy that one has had since birth and so you will avoid it out of habit, without even having to think. But even one year later, I still get urges to impulse buy. It really shows you how ingrained it is in each and every one of us.

Sharehouse Tales II

2011-11-16T16:17:00.001+11:00

Our landlord told us once that Josh Pyke used to live in our house, before he got famous.

It used to just make a great piece of trivia when people came over. And then we got this in the mail.

Cool non? We're all taking turns to photograph it.

Recently

2011-10-25T16:57:00.000+11:00

Culmination of 13 weeks of photography class:

2011-10-21T23:17:00.000+11:00

P.S I just found this creepy stalker photo of me on the internet!

Juuuust joking. I got to meet the American Deputy Secretary of State a few weeks ago.

Don't feel bad that your first reaction was, "Man, Jenny really IS short". I mean, that was my mum's first reaction too, accompanied by a snigger.

"Alright guys, act like you're deep in a fascinating conversation." That was probably the most difficult part of the whole thing, considering the piles of pastry and cakes sitting just out of sight to the left of the photo.

2011-10-21T18:59:00.002+11:00

I don't know why, but uni this semester for me has been particularly difficult; perhaps it's because of all the other stuff going on that even simple essays have driven me close to insanity/breakdown a few times. I wish that things did not have to become more complicated as we got older. Although I love challenges, increased responsibility, being out of my comfort zone and all the such, sometimes I wish that we had some control, or at least some choice, about which ones we wanted to tackle and when. But I guess that's not how the world works. How it works is that they just get thrown at us all at once, as if the Man Above was playing some sadistic game to see how much we could take until we cracked.

There isn't a lack of advice about how to deal with hard times, what with the internet and self-help books and well-meaning people. But the one that I've found most helpful is N's advice - when it feels like you can't take it anymore, just laugh. Just laugh, and let it know that you are the one in control. And laugh at how stupid you were to let it get to you. And it works.

Happiness in a can:

2011-10-20T12:19:00.001+11:00

It's funny how while most other people who move out would eat start eating less healthily, I actually rarely eat junk food while at the Chalet (mainly because I can't afford it), but as soon as I come back to my parent's house there is always an endless amount of junk for me to gorge on. This week it's a can of glazed popcorn and a mud cake (which i'm quite sure is made of 99% sugar). If I manage to escape diabetes after this, I'll consider myself lucky.

How to warm up a house

2011-10-04T00:31:00.004+11:00

2011-09-27T20:45:00.002+10:00

Some more photos from the trip to the US:- At Universal Studios (i.e. the day I got that horrendous tan line on my feet)

- From the top of the Getty Centre; being on top of a hill, that place gives you the most breathtaking views of LA

- Union Station

- My brother and I eating Ben&Jerry's at Vegas. EVERYthing is bigger in America.

And back in Sydney, over these months:.....putting the 'ass' in classy.

Sharehouse tales I

2011-09-17T23:12:00.002+10:00

We always seem to be having trouble with the kitchen drawers here at Jungle Chalet (the name of our house, it's a long story. Oh who am I kidding, you and I are both procrastinating, otherwise we wouldn't be on here. So what happened was, our housemate N won a couch on eBay for $15. After patting ourselves on the back for bagging what seemed like an absolute bargain, N sent our other housemate C with her removalist to pick up the couch from a house in Lane Cove. Turns out that it was in the middle of Lane Cove national park, and the path to the 'house' was a long, winding stone staircase down to the foot of a tree. The 'house' wasn't a house at all, but rather, a tree house, called Jungle Chalet. And the owner and seller of the couch was a little old man that looked like Bilbo Baggins. So the story has become something of a legend, and Jungle Chalet has become the house name. Anyways, back to the drawers.)

About three days after we all moved in, I decided to pack away and organise the knives into our cutlery drawers. There was one knife which was slightly too long didn't quite fit neatly into the plastic compartment, but seeing that I could still close the drawer, I didn't give it much thought. That is, until I needed to get a fork and had to open the cutlery drawer - only to find that I couldn't. It would only open about an inch or so, and then it would get stuck. Turns out that the protruding handle of the knife, although slight, was still enough to catch onto underbelly of the benchtop. And no matter how I shook the drawer or used various long stick things to try move it, it wouldn't unjam. The tiny distance that it could open wasn't enough to stick my hand in, either. When S came home, she also tried to tug the drawer free (along with lots of swearing) ... which seemed to actually make the knife tip lodge into the drawer. So throughout the day, all four of us had a hand in trying to dislodge the knife, through both coaxing and brute force. We were about to give up, resigned to the fact that we would have to eat with our hands for the next few days, when through sheer luck, someone found the catch that released the front part of the drawer (the exterior board with the handle), which meant that we could then stick our hand it and take out the knife.! We found that the tip of the knife had actually pierced through the back of the plastic cutlery organiser thing, and even made a dent in the back of our metal drawer. Everyone expressed amazement at how I managed to get it into such a position.Here is an diagram to illustrate my feat.

And now, tonight, we've just discovered that one of the drawers has the opposite problem - it won't close.

Breakfast

2011-09-13T20:49:00.000+10:00

...That was yesterday morning, and now I'm back at my parent's house for the next few days. Because my brother went to camp and my mum wants me to keep her company.

I thought that by moving out I would no longer be under her thumb, but apparently I'm still expected to be at her beck and call.

You taste just like glitter mixed with rock and roll

2011-09-09T11:54:00.001+10:00

Happy Birthday Rose!

Recently:

2011-08-28T22:25:00.000+10:00

- Started photography class:

The first photo that took, processed and printed from start to finish.

- Oh and I have also moved to Newtown:

and yes I have jumped onto the bandwagon and got a mac.

Jenny:
[complaining about her new Macbook Air]
Moey:
that doesnt seem to happen on hps.....
Jenny:
hps... harry potters?
Melissa:
HPs as in non-mac computers
Jenny:
how do you get "non-mac computers" from 'hps'...?
Melissa:
hp vs mac?
Jenny:
you mean PCs?
Melissa:
godamn. i thought i was so tech savvy for a while.....

- And one from my dear mother:
The form: Can you have foods which carry the warning "May contain traces of...."?
Mum: What's this about curry? Are they having curry?

2011-08-09T23:40:00.001+10:00

Sex -n. one's physiological sexual identity
Gender -n. one's psychological sexual identity

Personal anecdote: If you have ever met him, then you would know that my ten year old brother has a personality which can be described as bubbly, hyperactive, or possibly ADHD, depending on your mood. And if you knew me as a ten year old, then you probably would have described me as quiet, shy, introverted.

Recently on our family trip to Yellowstone National Park in the US, my mum was once again complaining about what a difficult child my brother was. Our family friend replied, "But he's a boy! Boys are meant to be like that. If he was as demure and quiet as your daughter, it would have been more cause for worry."

It's not the first time I've heard this, and it vexes me every time.

The family friend later on in the day also went on to ask my dad whether he will bequeath his business to his son. This woman had known my brother and I for less than 24 hours, so she could not have known us well enough to be judging on merit. I would have thought that in this time and age, that if a parent was indeed going to bequeath something of value to their children, the decision would have been made according to their merits and aptitude. But apparently, what was between our legs was more important.

For me, sexism is just as bad as racism. In both cases, crimes are committed, promotions are given, and expectations of personality and aptitude are imposed on us simply because of a physical trait that we have no control over.

At the root of sexism, I believe, are the rigid diamorphic conceptions of gender, and the relentless expectations of conformity to these conceptions. You are either male or female; males are supposed to like this and do this, females are supposed to like that and do that. Those who do not conform are weird, abnormal, going against nature.

The first problem with this is, what is considered 'normal' or 'natural' are just social constructions. That boys are supposed to like trucks and girls are supposed to like pink; that men are rational while women are emotional - there's nothing inherent in that. I have never liked pink and don't have a single pink thing in my wardrobe, while my brother refuses to eat half the things offered to him but will eat anything that is pink. My best subjects during high school was maths and economics, supposedly male strong suits, while my brother is one of the most emotionally volatile people I know. Does that make me less of a woman and him less of a man? Neither of us fits entirely and perfectly into the categories of male and female according to expectations of contemporary society.

This rigid conception of male and female is damaging in that they are often the source of prejudice and hence sexism. Women are emotional and irrational - therefore cannot be trusted with a job that requires reliability. Men are rational and less emotional - therefore they are charged with shouldering the responsibility for his family. If he fails or his wife earns more than him, then he is emasculated. Yes, less and less people hold these views, but until gender is conceived of as fluid rather than rigid, in that personality traits and aptitude should not be assumed based on sex, then sexism will prevail. Until a man can like pink and not have his masculinity questioned, and a woman can love driving trucks without being derogatorily labelled a dyke, then there will be sexism. Yeah I know, this is not likely to happen in the near future if at all. Because if gender is to be completely fluid then there cannot be different genders at all, since for difference to exist it as to be defined by what it is and what it is not - which is exactly where the rigid conception of male and female arises from. And distinctions between genders are not going anywhere. This diamorphic conception of gender is also problematic in that it discriminates against and ridicules those who physically straddles these supposed boundaries, such as hermaphrodites and transexuals.

Guess sexism is here to stay for a while.

2011-07-29T20:15:00.000+10:00

The obligatory keywords-people-google-to-end-up-on-our-blog exercise that everyone with a blog has to do at least once:

the task i have to undertake
goon yum
elizabeth and james knuckle ring
we started everthing
these candies you gave me they sucked
18 day challenge
popcorn c110
monica nashed
libya jana news
how to draw a jelly baby
"Elephant represents your parents" monkey represents your children
Al-Hibri & El-Habti, 2006
sydney cheap food
james dean franco .torrent
feet killing her
frozen meat news april 4 2011
popcornwater
if you delete angry birds and baout the eagle and get angry birds again can you get the eagle for fr
Andy Warhol in Rome
Russia and China in absession of no-fly zone over Lybia
how is the chinese people is attached
I Like Eggs-Amanda Show

Of all of those, the most interesting one was 'Monica Nashed'.

photograms

2011-07-27T19:55:00.000+10:00

- n. photographs made without the use of a camera.

(couldn't find a fourth identical fork)

Basically, instead of using negatives to project an image onto the photographic paper, one places objects onto the photographic paper and then expose it to light to create shapes.

2011-07-26T20:04:00.003+10:00

Change is hard.

It's often easier to make up reasons, excuses, anything, to avoid taking that step so we can just crawl back into the comforting warmth of the familiar. Even if we find it wanting.

But if we don't take that step, we'll always be left wondering what it would have been like. Would things have become better or worse? Regardless, at least it would have been progress. Keeping the status quo just leaves things stagnant, which is the worst result you can get.

The U.S of A

2011-07-16T14:26:00.008+10:00

- it's true, everything is bigger; their regular sized drinks is bigger than our large, every second person drives a 4WD, and every second person is overweight in some way.

- everything is cheaper

- unlimited free soft drink (soda) refills

- strangers smile if you catch their eye and sometimes even strike up conversation, unlike in Sydney

1. California Dreamin'

L.A - a more fun version of Sydney

(Venice Beach)

(Hollywood Blvd)

(Spotted a Scientology building - not sure if real or not)

San Franciso, one word - FOGGY

..even the seabirds are bigger in America

the crappy weather made it difficult to take a decent picture of the Palace of the Fine Arts, but trust me, it was a breathtaking site.

We also chanced upon the film set of The Five Year Engagement :

2. 4th of July at Vegas:

(Mum: "it's just as chaotic as the streets in China")

The place of excessive opulence and ironic juxtapositions

Loved the ceiling in the Bellagio

In-n-Out: minimalist fast food. Was too eager to get back to my burger to take a better photo...it was so good that it made Maccas ones look like they were made by a blindfolded two year old.

3. Yellowstone National Park:
- Everywhere you look is like a scene from a oil painting

Huge ass packet of potato chips:

"elk refuge"

...and then across the road, an archway made of elk antlers:

Rest of the photos on flickr

2011-06-24T13:10:00.002+10:00

Happy fake birthday and farewell, Haeran.

Excuse the photobomber. Oh wait, she was actually meant to be in the photo.

Love, your sexy friends.

2011-05-28T00:43:00.024+10:00

"Humanities Major - 45.4% working in jobs that DO require a college degree"

Why the fuck am I putting myself through all this suicide-inducing stress?

(p.s just joking about the suicide bit. I may be telling everyone to kill me now so I can avoid the apocalypse that is Week 13, but I'm good.)

On the same note:

How Assessment Periods Change Your Perspective on Life

Markers of Daily Life-------Its significance during a normal day-----Its significance during assessment period
Food-----------------------------A staple--------------------------------------------A necessary chore
Coffee---------------------------A pleasant morning habit ---------------------A matter of life and death
Bed ------------------------------A staple--------------------------------------------A luxury
Morning bus trip-------------Time to day-dream-------------------------------Time to do last minute work
Evening bus trip --------------Sunset appreciation-----------------------------Time to catch-up on sleep
the Library---------------------Makeshift locker----------------------------------Second home
Online newspaper------------pft, there's no crossword!---------------------A treat
Make-up------------------------So that I can look nice--------------------------So that I don't frighten people

2011-05-19T11:11:00.008+10:00

ME: so did you go to the International Security lecture [on guerrilla warfare] on Wednesday?
GIRL: No, I'm Tamil, so that was was basically my whole childhood experience.
ME: so.. do you mean you're not interested in it?
GIRL: No, I am interested, I've read pretty much everything on guerrilla warfare. No, well I haven't read EVERYTHING...but I've read a lot. I'm Tamil Sri Lanken, so guerilla warfare was my life until we moved here. I've BEEN through all of that. So I really didn't want to sit there and be LECTURED on it.

WHAT ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO SAY TO THAT??

Awkward conversations-which-get-too-personal-and-emotional with people aside, I was trawling through old photos last night and found this one from the last few days of high school:

still cracks me up. It's just inexplicably funny.

I'll be back (hopefully with a new camera yay!) when I've dug myself out of this hole of assessments.

2011-05-11T23:11:00.004+10:00

Every now and again I have arguments with people over this, so I'm going to settle it once and for all.

IS WINTER BETTER THAN SUMMER?

In order to determine the answer to this question, I will use the method known as compare-the-cons.

The cons of Summer:

- sweating
- flies and mosquitos

The cons of Winter:

- dry, itchy skin
- impossible to get out of bed in the morning
- freezing tap water makes maintaining decent hand hygeine very difficult
- freezing tap water also makes preparing food torturous
- freezing toilet seats
- heavy coats and thick scarves impedes every day logistics
- shorter daylight hours
- the heating required increases carbon pollution and electricty bills (I don't have aircon at my house so the opposite does not apply for Summer)
- more sick people everywhere sneezing and coughing
- intense shivering every time one undresses to change to go out, or to shower
- food loses warmth really quickly
- permanently frozen fingers

It's not hard to see that it is only possible for a person to prefer Winter if and only if they are masochists.

2011-05-03T22:45:00.004+10:00

I am already sick of talk about bin Laden's death. But before I shut it out of my mind and turn on the 'auto tune-out' feature in my ear (currently set to operate when my mum starts nagging), I've got to put my two cents in.

My reaction when I read the news online:

"oh him ...?"

It just seemed to me that the US's "victory" came a bit too late. For me, world has moved onto other things - democratic movements in the Middle East, China's economy, the Global Financial Crisis, climate change, Iran and North Korea, Obama's birth certificate.... bin Laden had almost become an anachronism.

the US seemed a bit like the kid who looks on longingly while his friends play with their Pokemon cards, and begs and begs his parents to let him buy them. But by the time they finally agree and buy him the mother of all Pokemon cards, it's too late - his friends have moved onto Yu-Gi-Oh cards.

So yes, to me, the death of bin Laden had no significant impact besides its anachronistic symbolism. But apparently, many people seem to live under the impression that his death will make the world a safer place. Sorry to sound elitist, but I laugh at the monumental amount of naivety and ignorance that it takes to arrive at that conclusion. Just as I laugh at little kids who think that money is the key to happiness.

In any case, regardless of whether you agree with that, feeling joy at the demise of another human being hardly makes one better than bin Laden himself.

And now for a cheesy quote:

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that." --Martin Luther King Jnr.

2011-04-24T22:26:00.003+10:00

My brother is currently going through a Harry Potter phase. I try to be accommodating. Tonight he walks up to me and goes:

"What kind of family are we?"
"whaddya mean?"
"like, are we squibs, muggles, or what?"
".....we're muggles."
"No we're not!"
"um, yes we are."
"We're not muggles! we're squibs!"
"Well the definition of a muggle is someone who isn't magical and their family isn't magical either. Therefore, we are muggles."
"We're squibs. Our grandparents were magical!"
"yeah you wish. Now leave me alone, I'm trying to do my work."

He wanders away deep in thought, and pops back into my room a few minutes later, saying:

"Well we're all descended from God, and God is magical, so therefore we are squibs."

See, all those fanatical Christians shouldn't have gone hating on Harry Potter. Harry Potter goes hand in hand with God.

75% vegetarian

2011-04-21T19:18:00.003+10:00

About two weeks ago while trying to do some work at my local library I randomly pulled a book off the shelves. It was Food Inc., and the chapter I happened to turn to was highlighting the horrendous inefficiences of meat production and its deleterious effects on world food shortages and the environment. Then and there, I decided I would give up eating meat - gradually, of course, as given my love for the consumption of dead animals an abrupt stop would probably cause acute withdrawal symptoms.

I don't know why that book in particular induced that change in me. Moral arguments for vegetarianism never really spoke to me (plenty of other animals eat other animals, why is it wrong for us to do so?). I've heard the environmental argument many times before but I've always found myself unable to take cow farts seriously. I guess that time it was probably the realisation that all that grain and other resources that goes into raising a few animals for our consumption could be used to feed way, way more people. The statistics were staggering - something like, the grain that is used to produce meat for one person can be used to feed 25 people - and though I'm a bit sceptical of statistics in general, it does drive home the point about the inefficiencies of meat production.

So off I went that day with a whole new perspective on the world, determined to gradually give up meat. But, after three miserable experiences at kebab shops during these last two weeks (I visit kebab shops way too often) I realised that giving up meat 100% would take a large proportion of joy out of my life. Tender lamb chops, juicy kebabs, piquant pizza Subs, delicately sliced honey leg ham, crunchy $2 mini chicken wraps from Maccas, the perfectly seared beef cubes from our local Chinese restaurant...never would I be able to taste their sweet sweet meatiness ever again. I'm getting hungry just thinking about all of that, and I just had dinner.

I'm a meat lover, what can I say? I guess I'll just have to give it my best when trying to avoid meat, but I'm going to have to make it a rule that if it's making me really miserable, I will excuse myself. I don't want a repeat of today when the inability to eat a donner kebab put me in a sulky mood for the rest of the day which I don't think my co-workers nor my mum appreciated. For me, it's just not worth it.

Henceforth, I pronounce myself 75% vegetarian.

Don't Let Go - Kate Miller-Heidke

2011-04-17T01:00:00.004+10:00

First of all I apologise for this long period of silence.
Being busy is no excuse to pull away and lose touch with my friends.
Last time we met on the net,
maybe you didn't like those things that I said
But the day I sent you that sad mail, not one, not two but 3 couples of friends just split up

Please don't start your reply with 'sorry I was busy too',
It's the busyness that brings us to our knees
Who invented all these things we have to do?
'Cause if I don't have you babe?
What I'm trying to say,
Is don't let go.

Please don't start your reply with 'sorry I was busy too'
I know you're busy we are all busy
We've got such important things to do

-- We've all used that excuse before, but really? Can we not spare an hour or two to see our friends once in a while? Do we not spend more than that procrastinating on the internet while we are supposedly working hard at home? More importantly, uni is only supposed to be a small part of the preparation for life, not be your life.

Confessions

2011-04-16T18:10:00.000+10:00

- Finding a really, really, really good research article actually gets my heart racing. It's about the only thing that manages to do that nowadays.

- I consider sex-change operations to be a form of cosmetic surgery. Although the consequences are much more preponderant than say a nose job, it is still in essence a pursuit in perfecting one's exterior. It also reinforces gender stereotypes. (Please do not interpret this as an attack on transgendered people or a call for outlawing sex-change operations)

- I agree with Thomas Friedman (in his book Hot, Flat & Crowded) and Joshua Kurlantzick (read his article here - he only mentions it in passing, though.) that certain aspects of authoritarianism can trump those of a democracy. I think everyone would agree that it is preferable to live in a democracy than under authoritarian rule, but I disagree with the way that Democracy is touted as some sort of Mandate of Heaven. Its flaws, and there are a few, should also be recognised.

- I have trouble dealing with phone numbers - aural or on paper - if they're not presented in groups of 3 or 4 digits.

2011-04-04T00:21:00.004+10:00

This morning as I was walking to work I found an unopened bottle of Corona lying on the lawn a few houses down from mine. I picked it up of course. It made my day. (although having swished around my bag for the whole day it might not be drinkable anymore..and plus, everyone's doubts about its genuine-ness is also making me wary. Not to mention my dad claims that the family whose lawn I picked it off are drug dealers/mafia bosses.)

I suppose that the extra hour of sleep I gained thanks to the end of daylight saving also added to the pleasantness of today. Can't say the same for the two people at work who turned up an hour early HA. Every year daylight saving screws over at least one person that I encounter that day, and sometimes it makes me wonder about its benefits. Does it really save so much energy that it is worth widespread hiccoughs around Australia twice a year?

2011-04-03T00:40:00.002+11:00

Oui je suis si heureuse
Alors pourquoi la nuit je pleure

(from a Yael Naim song)

Some quotes that I found sitting as drafts amongst our posts. Beware, they're a bit emo - kind of matches my mood right now :(

"Nothing seems to us changed. Out of the unreal shadows of the night comes back the real life that we had known. We have to resume it where we had left off, and there steals over us a terrible sense of the necessity for the continuance of energy in the same wearisome round of stereotyped habits, or a wild longing, it may be, that our eyelids might open some morning upon a world that had been refashioned anew in the darkness for our pleasure, a world in which things would have fresh shapes and colours, and be changed, or have other secrets, a world in which the past would have little or no place, or survive, at any rate, in no conscious form of obligation or regret, the remembrance even of joy having its bitterness, and the memories of pleasure their pain."

-Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Reality vs Fantasy, that's a familiar feeling. Ideals are called ideals for a reason - good to look at and dream about and maybe if you're lucky, experience once in a while, but they will never be permanent. Even if that permanent state can be reached, we'll just look for new ideals. We're such finicky creatures.

"The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who’ll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you’re sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that’s almost never the case."
— Chuck Close

A philosophy more people should adopt, myself included.

These candies you gave me, they sucked.
But you ate all of them!
I had to make sure they all sucked.

(from Glee)

2011-03-31T23:45:00.004+11:00

I made this for dinner tonight -

Risoni and Fish Stew

ingredients:
one diced onion, two diced carrots, some diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken stock, a bit under half a kilo of fish fillet cut into chunks, crushed garlic, leek/spring onions

method:
1. heat oil in a pan, throw in garlic, onions and carrots and cook until carrots are semi soft.
2. throw in tomatoes, tomato paste, risoni, and pour in chicken stock (I don't know exactly how much - just poured some in, and when it dried up I poured some more), add salt, approx twice the amount of sugar, and any other seasoning you like, and cook until risoni is soft.
3. throw in fish chunks and cook for a few minutes. When nearly done, throw in leek/spring onion.

I wasn't sure how it would turn out because I found the recipe at the back of a Woolworths catalogue, and I noticed that it didn't even mention using salt/sugar anywhere in the recipe. So I used the recipe with a pinch of salt (haha I'm so funny) and some tweaking and it turned out pretty good. It probably doesn't look too appetising here because I'd already started eating. But it was good..or maybe I was just hungry.

I just realised that there aren't many exact measurements in the recipe...I have become one of those annoying people that cook without measurements. I just tend to put however much looks appropriate, or however much I need or like that particular ingredient. Eg, I like tomatoes so I put in lots of it, and I couldn't be bothered cooking rice tonight, so I put in extra risoni, and because there was more risoni I added more chicken stock.

Alrighties, now I have to go back to figuring out how to translate the name of our core unit for INGS this semester (Transnational Spaces and Networks - who the hell makes these names up?) into Chinese while making sure that the content of the course can still be deduced by the name. Which is hard considering I barely know what the content of the course is.

2011-03-24T00:04:00.006+11:00

I started my first volunteering session with ALIV tonight, and as cliched as it sounds, it really struck home that I shouldn't take anything for granted. It also left me feeling a little guilty that I can come home in my car to my own house and my tertiary education, doing my readings on the iPad, thinking about past and future overseas trips, pondering my career ambitions, and looking at photos from nights out with my friends. I'm sure it's not the intended effect, but I think we all need that reminder every once in a while.

I know this sounds ego-centric; this is supposed to be about helping others and here I am talking about myself! It's just there are very strict confidentiality rules, so I'm going to avoid talking about the kids completely to be on the safe side.

I chose this particular organisation as it is related to an issue that I feel quite strongly about. But more importantly I quite like how everything is of direct assistance to these families and kids and focuses on providing social support and helping them have fun rather than providing just economic assistance. If anyone else is interested, here is the website: www.aliv.org.au/kids

In other news, I am now back to multiple coffees a day. It took less than 4 weeks of uni to undo 3 and a half months of trying to relieve my caffeine dependency.

#firstworldproblems

Saturday night fun

2011-03-19T22:00:00.001+11:00

Other people go partying. I make spiders with my brudda.

why don't you go pollock yourself?

2011-03-18T21:56:00.005+11:00

go on, try it.

2011-03-18T11:07:00.006+11:00

UN votes for action to stop Gaddafi

"The UN Security Council has unanimously passed a vote calling for "all necessary measures" against forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The vote - 10-0, with five abstentions, including Russia and China - will allow foreign enforcement of a no-fly zone over Libya and ground Colonel Gaddafi's air force, reportedly as early as today.

The BBC reports that attacks on forces loyal to Gaddafi by the British and French air forces could begin within hours of the UN passing resolution 1973, with anti-aircraft defences the likely first targets.

While the US was not expected to be involved in first attacks, the BBC said ‘‘British and French are likely to get logistical backup from Arab allies’’.

Colonel Gaddafi has already criticised UN Security Council Resolution 1973/2011, with The Guardian reporting him telling Portuguese television station RTP: "This is craziness, madness, arrogance. If the world gets crazy with us we will get crazy too.

"We will respond. We will make their lives hell because they are making our lives hell. They will never have peace."

Meanwhile, in Tripoli, Libya warned it could target military and civilian air and sea traffic in the Mediterranean in case of a foreign military intervention, the official Jana news agency reported."

All the major powers in the world including your neighbours in the Arab region has just voted to gang up on you, and you still think you have a chance?

source: SMH

Earth to Gaddafi - You already are crazy.

Although he may call it bravery.

2011-03-18T00:11:00.004+11:00

My darling baby-to-be, why are you so expensive?

Should I wait for the price to drop, or should I just get the cheaper and crapper D90, which is only one model newer than my ancient D80? I suppose if I'm going to spend money on a new DSLR I might as well go for the better one. Investment piece right? Man, you have no idea how excited I was when I read the D7000 review...and then I googled the price. I have an urge to make a Japan disaster reference here, but I think it's too soon.

Speaking of Japan, it would be really appreciated if the media would stop making such a big deal of the nuclear reactors. On Sunrise this morning, they mentioned that it is only truly dangerous when levels reach 1000 (levels were around 100 this morning apparently), but it didn't stop them from dedicating a huge segment on it. Fucking hell, you're scaring the whole world with all this talk of nuclear disaster, just take a look at the share market or my mum. I am confident that the Japanese will be able to keep it under control. Even if it fails, it still ain't Armageddon; because it would have been anticipated, precautions can be taken, unlike Chernobyl or the atomic bombs. There have been many others who have pointed out the sensationalisation of the nuclear reactors problem, including a guy in the newspaper (I'm sorry, I'm horrible at supporting what I say with evidence) and my INGS lecturer - probably the first useful thing he's said.

My mum and the ipad

2011-03-16T10:18:00.002+11:00

Mum: so I'm on the Internet now?
Me: yep.
Mum: but it's not connected to anything, don't I need cables?
Me: nup it's got wireless Internet.
Mum: but it's not connected to anything...
Me: wireless internet means it doesn't need wires to go on the Internet. My laptop and brother's computer is the same, see how they don't need cables? Your iPad doesn't need cables either.
Mum: oh...but..it's not connected to anything...

2011-03-14T22:01:00.005+11:00

I made the best chocolate mousse ever last night. It was the chocolate mousse cake recipe we used on that baking day during the holidays, except with a bit more chocolate (because I wanted to finish the slab, rather than due to culinary expertise) and mixed the egg whites with the cream first until it was smooth before adding it to the chocolate and egg yolk mixture. It turned out unbelievably good... it's taking a lot of self-control to resist temptation to scrape all the mousse off from the cake and just stuff it all in my mouth.

On the topic of food, I realised that one of my favourite things about living in China is its abundance of cheap yet healthy food. Cheap food we have here too, but in Australia, cheap food is generally also unhealthy - think of Maccas - whereas eating healthy costs a lot more. One good example is the exorbitant price of freshly squeezed juices and smoothies, such as the one in the food court of the city Westfield. $7 for a smoothie I can make at home, versus a $2 can of Coke which I can't make at home. It's a no-brainer.

We all know money talks, and food is no exception. In light of Australia's obesity problem, I think that it is a major cause of the problem and therefore it should be a focus when trying to come up with solutions. I'm definitely not the first to point out the comparatively higher cost of eating healthily here in Australia, but nothing seems to have changed and it now seems like eating healthy is slowly being adopted as a status symbol - think of organic foods.

In China, eating at fast food joints such as KFC or Maccas would probably cost your around 30RMB for lunch. On the other hand, a steamed rice, meat and veggies combo - served almost as fast as a burger at Maccas - would cost you less than 15RMB. Maybe 20 something if you choose a slightly fancier place. So basically, Maccas loses its advantage. That's not to say no-one goes to Maccas, but it's just that people will go a lot less often, which makes a huge difference if you're trying to tackle an obesity epidemic.

Similarly, for those too lazy to cook, common options here in Sydney would be either to buy frozen meals, buy ready made foods like a roast chicken from Woolies, call a pizza or get some form of Asian take-away. In China, frozen meals mean frozen meat buns/dumplings, the ready made food at supermarket/street side vendors look remarkably similar to homemade dishes (in a good way), Pizza Hut is ridiculously expensive, and Asian take-aways somehow are still healthier (and heaps tastier) than Sydney versions.

Even when it comes to buying a drink when you're out shopping etc, freshly squeezed cane juice or soy milk are still cheaper than the sugary bottled 'juice' you would find in Seven Eleven. Compare that to Sydney and the example I gave above.

I know I can't hope for the same abundance of cheap eateries here in Sydney as in China, since we're an 'advanced' and 'developed' economy, and people would be horrified to be asked to sit on cheap plastic stools cramped into tiny spaces with harsh lighting, crouched over wobbly steel tables eating freshly steamed, perfectly made cheungfun.

Ok I'll admit it, my main motivation for writing all that is not the obesity epidemic here in Australia, but rather that I miss the food in China. :(

Instead, I have my 3 month hell aka Semester 1 to look forward to. I can forsee that my work load is going to increase megafold. I've dropped French and picked up another Government subject which means a lot more work (I don't mean to sound disparaging towards French subjects, it's just that Govt subjects require more time on readings and research for essays etc. French last year, I managed to get similar marks to Govt whilst spending about a quarter of the time on it); I'm working a few more hours; I'm starting volunteer work with ALIV; and I'm going to try to actively participate in the Politics Society at uni. I've also promised my mum that I would make dinner twice a week. I have a feeling that's the one most likely to fail, yet at the same time I'm kind of excited.

2011-03-10T23:32:00.011+11:00

" 'I'm not trying to tell you,' he said, 'that only educated and scholarly men are able to contribute something valuable to the world. It's not so. But I do say that educated and scholarly men, if they're brilliant and creative to begin with - which, unfortunately, is rarely the case - tend to leave infinitely more valuable records behind them than men do who are merely brilliant and creative. They tend to express themselves more clearly, and they usually have a passion for following their thoughts through to the end. And - most important - nine times out of ten they have more humility than the unscholarly thinker...Something else an academic education will do for you. If you go along with it any considerable distance, it'll begin to give you an idea what size mind you have. What it'll fit and, maybe, what it won't. After a while, you'll have an idea what kind of thoughts your particular size mind should be wearing. For one thing, it may save you an extraordinary amount of time trying on ideas that don't suit you, aren't becoming to you.' "

--Catcher in the Rye, by J.D Salinger

It's good to see someone sticking up for institutionalised education when, in general, modern literature and films both mainstream and indie tends to portray institutionalised higher education negatively.

I am of the opinion that while institutionalised education can be a stifling, restrictive and blunt instrument, it is a critical process through which to instill discipline into one. Being a 'free spirit' may be a compelling ideal, but discipline is necessary to survive in this world, and even more so if you are seeking success. Besides, the two are not mutually exclusive; it could be argued that one person can be both disciplined and a 'free spirit'.

Similarly, being forced to study subjects you have no interest in may seem ridiculous and a symptom of a hugely flawed system, but since when in life could we choose to do only things we like? Wherever we go, whatever we do, we will always meet people we don't like, hear things we disagree with, be forced to do things we don't enjoy, but we have to do it anyways. Disciplining oneself to plough through with it anyways is what institutionalised education can teach us.

All that being said, I do think that education should be more about critical thinking than rote learning. In this technological age, information being so readily accessible, it seems a bit pointless to require students to memorise information that is unlikely to be used again. But with this accessibility of information, it is necessary and more practical to equip students with the tools to find the relevant information and be able to form their own opinion based on a critical analysis of that information. Example in point: recently my brother, who is in year 5, had to do a simple research project on a recent North Korean conflict of his choice (of course we know that there has only been one in recent months, but his teacher decided to make it difficult and made it sound like there have been several). He had trouble pin-pointing an exact conflict, let alone picking out the key points of that conflict from all the information available. He ended up copying non-sensical and non-informative lines from a random news article. It's a failure on the part of the school that they haven't taught him how to do research on the internet before sending him off - and it's not the first time. Or maybe they did teach them and my brother wasn't listening or was too dumb to understand...I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

(I'm joking, my brother is smart when he tries.)

Speaking of institutionalised education, it's only second week back at uni and I'm already behind in my readings and utterly exhausted, even though I haven't really done any work. It feels like I never had that 3 and half month holiday.

2011-03-07T22:01:00.003+11:00

Designer Handbags
Putting Food On Other Peoples’ Plates
Ramen*
Numbering Their Kids
Giving Vitamins as Gifts
Hand-Me-Downs
Pouring Tea for Others*
Having Nice Things and Not Using Them
Free Calendars
Cheapness*
Childhood Beating Stories
Staying Open on Christmas Day*
Studying Overseas
The Number 9
Numbers (8-8-08)
Not Having Pets*
Not Moving Out*
Plastic Furniture Covers
Bleached Hair
Tennis
Badminton
Goldfish
Not Taking the Last Piece of Food
Squatting
Moth Balls
Variety Shows
Wontons
Pale Skin
False Humility
The Wok*
Dance Dance Revolution
Higher Education*
Cutting In Line
Nagging
Eye Enlargement
Glasses*
Piano & Violin
Aging Cookware*
Peace Sign
Speaking Loudly
Cash
Slurping
Hoarding
Comparing People
Buffets
Not Wearing Shoes Indoors*
Basketball
Eagle & Tiger Balm
Karaoke
Anime
Korean Soap Operas
Bargains*
Bowl Haircuts*
Academics
Purikura Photos
Cute Plush Toys

If you use/do/like 15 or more of these things, you'll have to admit you're pretty fob. Mine are in asterix. No need to count, I made sure it was under 15. My Mum on the other hand, would probably have to admit to over half of those.

List taken from Stuff Asian People Like

2011-03-06T22:26:00.003+11:00

Some people have been asking me how my job is. So let me give you an overview of our Sunday afternoon.

Me: spent 4 hours copying maths questions from Microsoft Word onto Microsoft Powerpoint, and then redrawing the figures using the drawing tools on Powerpoint. I'm sure I don't need to elaborate on the frustration that ensued. Also spent 30mins on Paint editing pixel by pixel this geometric figure that couldn't be completed using the drawing tools on Microsoft Office (Why aren't there preset semi-circles?). And then I realised I did it in black instead of white.

Head Supervisor: Went on a long rant about how she hates her job and that she has become OCD about the tidiness of the tutor's room, because she is paranoid that the boss will come in the middle of the night to check. And how the job has taken over her life. And then she realised I had just started on this job.

A: Wondered how year 6 kids were expected to be able to do year 9 algebra. Tried to convince B that although the kids can do fractions as well as basic algebra, for some reason, when the two are combined they panic and their brains go haywire.

B: Slept 3 hours last night and 10 times more energetic than everyone else

2011-03-03T15:46:00.004+11:00

This is certainly a test of my dedication to the year long clothing ban -

Last year my Cheap Mondays - which are over 4 years old - started developing rips in various places. Not in the cool places (eg. the knees), but rather in awkward places like the crevice between my butt cheek and my thighs (I still haven't figured out how) and the inside of the knee. At first I tried to get them mended rather than buy a new pair because I really liked the cut and the material as well as the worn-in-ness, and also because I don't like shopping for jeans. But I think it's gotten to the point where if I keep wearing them there will be a repeat of the Coffs Harbour holey-pants jokes...

I did expect them to last longer, since they are jeans and all. But at 90 bucks a pair, what can you expect.

So I could argue that this is a valid excuse to break the ban since I am replacing my my favourite pair of jeans as well as the only black pair. But on the other hand, I have quite a few other pairs of jeans, so is it really a genuine need? Maybe if the perfect pair turns up during the mid-year sales - just for economic reasons.

2011-03-03T00:44:00.005+11:00

So the Summer holidays are over, and life is getting back to its normal tedious routines.

This week's diary page. I think I may have written more emails these last two weeks than the whole of last year.

I need to find a new project/goal to aim for and keep my mind occupied, because I've found that it's the best way to stop myself from falling into a rut. And to give my life 'meaning', as cheesey and lame as it sounds. You can lower those eyebrows now.

I have long-term 'projects' like saving up for possible exchange trip/Europe trip as well as my year-long clothing ban (going very well btw) but those sort of run in the background and don't require active thought.

I was going to move out this year, but for reasons related to filial piety (dang my Chinese roots!) I've had to put it off. It's less than desirable when the fruits of one year's labour gets fed to the fruit flys, but what can one do?

FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO OCCUPY ONE'S MIND, OF COURSE

So now I need pick something. Spend more time on photography? Make a short film? Try get something published in a political science publication? Get myself a leadership position somewhere? Try make this blog famous (ha!)? Suggestions?

2011-02-26T23:11:00.004+11:00

During these last 3 and half months of sweet sweet summer holidays I've watched quite a few movies, especially after Rose so kindly introduced me to Bit Torrent. Now that Summer is drawing to a close, I thought I would briefly review some of them.

1.All Good Things (2010, Kirsten Dunst & Ryan Gosling): Decent movie, though not a must-see. Mild enough of a thriller for me. 6/10

2.James Dean (2002, James Franco): The screenplay is only average, though Franco is marvellous in his portrayal of James Dean and carries the film. 7.5/10

3.Life as We Know It (2010, Katherine Heigl & the other guy): average Hollywood rom-com. What do you expect? 4/10

4.Revolutionary Road (2008, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet): Again, a decent movie that tugs at your heart strings but not a must-see. Well, it's a SHOULD-see, but just not a MUST-see. 7/10

5.Closer (2004, a lot of hollywood people): A love story without romance which could have been better executed. 5/10

6.Killers (2010, Katherine Heigl & Ashton Kutcher): I watched this on the plane, otherwise I would not have bothered. It's like Mr&Mrs Smith, but a lot less slick, a lot more vapid, not to mention slightly misogynistic.

7.Letters to Juliet (2010, girl from Mean Girls): It's not often that I say this as I think it's often used too melodramatically, but THAT'S ONE HUNDRED MINUTES OF MY LIFE THAT I CAN NEVER GET BACK. Ok, a bit less because towards the end I decided to play Angry Birds on the iPad instead (I watched this on the plane). But seriously, it was like they just picked out a bunch of the most romantic cliches they could find inspired by the $5 romance novels found in the book sales stalls in suburban shoppping centres, added some extra sweetener to be safe and threw it together into a mildly coherent plotline and hoped that 13 year old girls listening to Taylor Swift would also take this bait. 0/10

8.Twilight (2010): Equally as cringe-worthy, but slightly more entertaining than Letters to Juliet due to the action scenes. I don't know which sequel this was. Again, plane movie otherwise I wouldn't have bothered. 1/10

9.Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (2009): Surprisingly good considering it's an animation not made by Pixar. Contains poignant social commentary on issues such as anti-intellectualism, obsession with appearance, mindless consumerism, the 'bigger is better' mindset, fame and success, environmental neglect, etc. 6/10

10.Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005, Robert Downey Jnr): The style reminds me of another movie, but I can't quite remember which (this is what I mean when I talk about my useless memory). The sardonic tone and black humour makes this movie stand out. The humour at times may seem base, but it's all for a good cause. 7/10

11.Morning Glory (2010, Rachel McAdams): Another brainless Hollywood feel-good movie. 3/10

12.Orlando (1992, Tilda Swinton): I watched this movie after reading the book and I have to say that I prefer the book, though I think the movie reflects the style and mood quite well. 6.5/10

13.Half Nelson (2006, Ryan Gosling): I thought it was going to be another one of those movies where the teachers inspires a bunch of kids (a la Dead Poets Society and History Boys, and this other one which is about disadvantaged kids the title of which has, as usual, slipped my mind). You could say this movie is a lot more 'real'. 6/10

14.The Tourist (2010, Johnny Depp & Angelina Jolie): I got warned by TPG for illegally downloading this movie. This movie sounds like a typical Hollywood thriller, but I promise you that there are not-so-subtle traces of satire and subtle humour in there. 6.5/10

15.Lars and the Real Girl (2007, Ryan Gosling): a very sweet film, and also one of the few films that portray psychologists in a positive way. 6.5/10

16.Royal Tenenbaums (2001, a lot of Hollywood people) I quite enjoy Wes Anderson films, and this one is no exception. 7/10

17.The Social Network (2010): Decent movie, but not worth an Oscar. Though, as someone on the Kerri-Anne show said, it does sort of define a generation and therefore it does deserve some recognition. 6.5/10

18.An Education (2010): I like that it gives equal weight to both views - higher education VS 'University of Life'. We have so many anti-intellectual movies so it's nice to have one that doesn't continue this tradition. 7.5/10

19.Ponyo (2008): Very disappointing for a Studio Ghibli film. 4/10

20.Black Swan (2010): I like the special effects. The last scene of her transforming into a black swan was breath-taking. In my opinion it's worth the hype. 7.5/10

21.Fargo (1996): I can't quite 'get' the film in that I understand what it's trying to do, but I don't quite feel it. It's just not really my cup of tea. 5/10

22.Ocean's Thirteen (2007): It was on TV but I wasn't paying full attention so I only caught bits of it. This bit particularly stood out. HEE-larious, especially in light of Australia's recent Oprah-mania.
ETA: unfortunately I can't embed the video in here, but click HERE to watch it.

There are actually a few more other ones which I haven't listed here... yes that's alot of movies for a three-and-half month period.

I'm also going to watch Dreamers (the one about the French twins during the Paris student riots of '68 and their American friend) later this week, will let you know how that is. But how bad can it be with Louis Garrel in it?

Am going know to watch the Oscars on TV - just for James Franco.

2011-02-25T10:45:00.000+11:00

I've been in GZ for the last three days, and right now I'm sitting in the airport waiting for my flight home. During these few days:

1.I had to break up a fist-fight between my Dad and a waitress. My dad is always threatening to beat up people (apparently it's the way things are done in China. Sure, dad.) but this is the first time I've actually seen him do it. But isn't trying to beat up a waitress who was about my size slightly emasculating?

2.My parents now both have an iPad each. Last year, my dad was still making disparaging remarks about the iPad. My mum still barely knows how to turn a computer on.

3.Dad: The documentary on TV just said that the father of the president of the African Union was a Chinese guy.
Me: Oh really? It's hard to tell when someone is Asian-African, they're not as distinct as Anglo-Asians.
Dad: Yeah they just look African. Except they're less shiny.
Me: What..?
Dad: Yeah, the 'pure' Africans are so black that they're shiny. The mixed ones aren't as shiny.
Me: ???

4.At the Chinese customs the woman told me to write my Chinese name on the exit card:
Me: What? But I'm not a Chinese National. I...don't have a Chinese name.
Her: But you're born in Guangzhou aren't you?
Me: Yeah, but I have never been asked to do this before.
Her: It's a new rule.
Me: ......I don't know how to write my Chinese name.
Her: Alright, fine.

Since when did they make foreigners with an Asian face write their Chinese names? Is this some sort of reverse imperialism? Are they trying to reassert the position of the Chinese language in the world? Maybe I'm reading a bit too much into this as a political science student, but I'm just curious at why they've suddenly decided to implement this rule.

5.I'M SITTING AT THE AIRPORT LOUNGE THERE'S A GUY SITTING NEARBY WHO IS SHAVING WITH AN ELECTRIC SHAVER OVER THE COFFEE TABLE.

18 day challenge part V

2011-02-19T20:42:00.007+11:00

Completed in 5 days!

14 - something you crave for a lot
A sexy French boy like Louis Garrel

source

15 - what I would find in your bag

The usual: wallet, phone, iPod, keys, diary, book (currently reading Unintelligent Design, a book by Robyn Williams refuting creationism and Intelligent Design. A good introductory text.), pouch with first-aid/vanity items (mints, blotting tissue, hand cream, perfume, eyedrops, lip balm, pain killer, band-aid, mirror, tissues)

16 - why are you doing this 30 day challenge
Mostly because I bored during these last few days of the holiday. Starting tomorrow life will be back to normal.

17 - a picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
From around this time last year, taken in Hangzhou.

My hair has changed. I'm a little wiser, academic wise and street wise.

18 - in this past month, what have you learned
How to grocery shop efficiently, how to cook, how to buy a car, how to buy health insurance, how to survive on my own. Also learnt a lot of trivia from the large amount of morning shows and Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation.

"To conquer fear, you must become fear." --watching Batman right now. Batman and Spiderman are my two favourite superhero movies.

18 day challenge part IV

2011-02-18T23:21:00.004+11:00

10 - put your ipod on shuffle: first 10 songs that play
1. Gwen Stefani - Early Winter
2. Rainbow Chan - Brushed Upon With Rose
3. The Maladies - I Feel So Fine
4. Patrick Wolf - Jacob's Ladder
5. Goldfrapp - Black Cherries (One of the very few songs I like from her)
6. Alicia Keys&John Mayer - Lesson Learned
7. Queen - Under Pressure
8. Sean Kingston - Beautiful Girl (This song always brings back memories of my Dad trying to croon along)
9. The Strokes - Whatever happened
10. Gary Jules - Mad World (Love)

11 - Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
James Franco. I don't think I need to explain this.

12 - plans/dreams/goals you have
This sounds really cheesy and cliched, but I want to make a difference in this fucked up world. I haven't figured out how I'm gonna do that yet.. work with the government? work in NGOs? Work on the ground? Work at the top? All I know is that I want to travel a lot, live in a lot of different places. Sydney is nice and all, but I'm a restless person and I can't bear to stay here all my life. I also want to take lots of photos. And then I'm going to retire at 60 wiht my labrador and have my own veggie garden.

13 - a picture of something that makes you happy
A clean, uncluttered room.

I know I sound OCD, but this just happened to be a picture I was looking at right before typing this, and I just used it because I'm too lazy to think of other things that makes me happy.

18 day challenge part III

2011-02-17T20:56:00.007+11:00

06 - a picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
I've never been in a car accident so I've never been impacted upon. haha I'm so witty. But nah, I can't say I've had any major life changing events, I've had a pretty boring and sheltered childhood. I do like this quote though,:

I wrote down this quote a few years ago - the post-it is from when I did YAA with ANZ I believe - and I have been trying/will continue to try to live by it.

07 - short term goals for this month and why
I've been contemplating whether to move out within this month, or to move out later this year/next year. I keep changing my mind every day, depending on who I've talked to/what I've been doing that day, just like I change my mind about my future career/goals every day.

08 - how you found out about tumblr and why you made one
Well this ain't tumblr, but I think one of the first personal blogs I ever read was by this then 15y.o guy from Norway called Jostein. Moey and Colleen would remember him - we were so impressed by his personal style that we became slightly stalkerish. That's how we discovered the blog world. He's still got a blog now (ehh...fashion) but it's all artsy fartsy photography and he rarely updates. Anyways, after a while Moey and I decided to start our own blog, and around the same time, Colleen started hers as well to document her French exchange trip. Nice little trip down memory lane there..is it weird that I still remember the background Jostein used in his first blog?

09 - a picture of you and your family
My dad used to make us take family photos every time we dropped him off at the airport. Nowadays we only take about one photo a year when we go on our trips. Plus my brother always, without fail, ruins them by either intentionally pulling faces or just by his I've-just-developed-self-awareness awkwardness. That or my dad looks murderous. So there aren't many recent and decent ones. That said, I do like this one that we took at Mount Fuji a few years ago. Sorry mum..

18 day challenge part II

2011-02-16T20:18:00.004+11:00

02 - the meaning behind your blog name
When we were brainstorming Moey suggested the song title "We started nothing" by the Ting Ting Tings, and we decided to adjust it to We Started Everything.

...ok, that was a bit too quick, so I'm just gonna do a few more.

03 - a picture of you and your friends

oldie but goldie.

04 - a habit that you wish you didn’t have
Procrastination and caffeine

05 - a picture of somewhere you’ve been to

(Somewhere near Shanghai)

18 day challenge

2011-02-14T14:38:00.008+11:00

I think this is the most recent photo of me:

1. I'm a caffeine junkie. If I don't drink coffee or large amounts of tea, I get massive headaches and massively grumpy, and then I crash at around 10pm.

2. I have goldfish memory. I can never remember any jokes, nor examples to back up my theories/conclusions about people, things etc. I also find it hard to remember more than 3 things at a time. However, I also have instances where I can recall random number sequences even after just a quick glance. Selective memory loss, just like my selective hearing loss.

3. I recently learned that it's very awkward trying to buy a bra during the pre-valentines period. Too many guys shuffling around trying not to look lecherous while their girlfriends/wives pick out frilly lacy red things.

4. I went to see an acupuncturist today for the very first time (to see if anything can be done about my screwed up wrist) and I can tell you, all those needles sticking out of my arm was a very strange sight. It was also very hard to resist the natural survival instinct to yank them all out.

5. I quite like these lines from the preface of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray:

- The artist is the creator of beautiful things.

- To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim.

- The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things.

- The highest as the lowest form of criticism is a mode of autobiography.

- There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are only well written, or badly written. That is all.

- It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors.

- Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.

- We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.

- All art is quite useless.

6. I like watching Mornings With Kerri-Anne and The Circle - they're actually quite funny. Channel Seven's Morning Show isn't as good - their hosts try too hard.

7. I still think this guy is beautiful.

images from Meet Sen

There's just something about his face..

8. Sometimes I get scared of my own driving

9. I can reverse park really well, but can't park nose to curb unless there's a spare car space on both sides. And every time I do a curbside stop, it's by trial and error.

10. As a kid I hated wearing dresses and never liked pink. I guess I was a bit of a tomboy.

11. I find ballet fascinating because of the contradiction between the delicate, effortless grace of its appearance, and the harsh discipline and precision at its essence. (Appearance vs Essence borrowed from Marxism; oooooh)

12. Chinese mosquitoes are my number one enemy. French grammar is a close second.

13. I never know how to respond to compliments from non-strangers. "Nice hair! I love your glasses!" In those situations, strangers are easy to deal with because you can just smile, thank them and then walk off. But what about acquaintances who you have to converse with? Return the compliment? -most of the time it just comes out sounding fake. Talk about where you got your haircut? -a bit narcissitic, and I don't have anything interesting to say about them anyways.

14. A streetwise friend once told me that a bad person is one who knowingly hurts others. To this day, I still use that as my yardstick to distinguish between good and bad.

15. The 2011 Senior Australian of the Year was my friend Kate's dad.

P.S I found this thing on tumblr which I can't seem to repost on here. It's endlessly entertaining.

2011-02-14T12:05:00.002+11:00

This is me at the moment:

The task I have to undertake is too big to contemplate, so I think I will have a go at this "30 day challenge" which I nicked off THIS tumblr (the blog of young gay melbournites, worth checking out btw.) But I'm gonna skip some of the more boring ones and cut it down to an 18 day challenge, starting tomorrow.

01 - a recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

02 - the meaning behind your tumblr name

03 - a picture of you and your friends

04 - a habit that you wish you didn’t have

05 - a picture of somewhere you’ve been to

06 - a picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you

07 - short term goals for this month and why

08 - how you found out about tumblr and why you made one

09 - a picture of you and your family

10 - put your ipod on shuffle: first 10 songs that play

11 - Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why

12 - plans/dreams/goals you have

13 - a picture of something that makes you happy

14 - something you crave for a lot

15 - what I would find in your bag

16 - why are you doing this 30 day challenge

17 - a picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?

18 - in this past month, what have you learned

--

why I need a sugar daddy

2011-02-14T11:43:00.003+11:00

price: $613

price: $752

Jewellery by Maria Nilsdotter; images from Maria Nilsdotter, The Cherry Blossom Girl

2011-02-13T21:19:00.002+11:00

My nine year old brother's foot is the same size as mine.

nuff said.

Andy Warhol

2011-02-11T23:00:00.001+11:00

From The Philosophy of Andy Warhol:

"They call Rome 'the Eternal City' because everything is so old and everything is still standing. They always say, 'Rome wasn't built in a day.' Well, I say maybe it should have been, because the quicker you build something, the shorter a time it lasts, and the shorter a time it lasts, the sooner people have jobs again, replacing it. Replacing necessities keeps people busy. The necessities, they always say, are food, shelter, and clothing. Now, in Italy they make a lot of food, and they make a lot of clothing, but food and clothing are only two-thirds of the necessities, the other third is shelter - and they're not making that because it's already been made. So what's happened in Rome is that the women wind up in the kitchens making all the food and in the factories sewing all the clothes, while the men don't do anything because the buildings are already built and they're not falling down! Their buildings were originally built too well and they've never corrected the situation. This is why you see so many men on the streets of Rome. Italy, at all hours of the day and night."

"I'm impressed with people who can create new spaces with the right words. I only know one language, and sometimes in the middle of a sentence I feel like a foreigner trying to talk it because I have word spasms where the parts of some words begin to sound peculiar to me and in the middle of saying the word I'll think, 'Oh, this can't be right - this sounds very peculiar, I don't know if I should try to finish up this word or try to make it into something else, because if it comes out good it'll be right, but it if comes out bad it'll sound retarded,' and so in the middle of words that are over one syllable, I sometimes get confused and try to graft other words on top of them. Sometimes this makes good journalism and when they quote me it looks good in print, and other times it's very embarassing. You can never predict what will come out when the words you're saying start to sound strange to you and you start to patch."
(..Glad to know he's only human)

images from Finding Charlie

Moey has been/is going through an Andy Warhol craze. She made me read his autobiography - and I'm glad she did. I can now see why he's the icon he is; his eccentricity, self-awareness, frankness regarding his failability, wit and astute observations regarding modern culture and life in general makes the book a compelling read. I could only imagine what it would have been like to have known him personally. Actually I sort of feel like I know him personally already, with all those intimate details, conversations etc. It's unbelievably readable too. My favourite read of this summer.

2011-02-03T23:18:00.006+11:00

1. One word to describe my mood right now: CBF. I have 6 emails to write, a skateboard to buy, a digital set top box to buy, admin stuff to do for uni, 2 facebook messages to write, and all I can be bothered doing is watching Parks and Recreation.

2. I hope this doesn't come off as obnoxious: aren't the media over-dramatising the cyclone that just hit Queensland? Yes it was the worst storm to ever hit Australia, but there are no deaths nor serious injuries, and from the clips on TV, most buildings are still standing and relatively undamaged, except for those few unfortunate souls in Mission Beach. The most exciting clip they could find was the one of the metal sign flying down the street. Which they have been playing over and over and over and over again, as well as clips of fallen trees, and interviews with people repeating how "scary" it was. I offer them my sympathies but compared with say, cyclone Katrina in New Orleans, this could hardly be classified as a disaster. SO QUIT YOUR WHINING, SHOW SOME GRATEFULNESS TO MOTHER NATURE FOR SPARING YOU, AND GIVE ME BACK MY TV SHOWS.

That being said, I do have to agree that it seems like Mother Nature has a grudge on Queensland. Poor Queensland.

(Maybe I'm being less than pleasant about this because Julia Gillard plans to fund the reconstruction by cutting climate change programs. Does she possess any common sense at all?)

3. Speaking of mother nature, looks like she's decided 2011 will be her year for revenge: SMH video: Weather causing worldwide chaos

If you ask my dad though, all these weather abnormalities as well as the recent major earthquakes is an indication that the Mayan's prediction of armageddon may be coming true.

4. My dad also happens to have just bought a four wheel drive.

5. I still prefer summer to winter despite this suicide-inducing heat.

6. Never try to discuss politics with people whose only soure of information is Tony Abbott's mouth

7. Happy Chinese New Year, everyone!

2011-01-30T13:14:00.003+11:00

Maybe instead of taxing us extra to rebuild Queensland, wouldn't it make more sense for the government to stop subsidising the very fossil fuels that are exacerbating these disasters and free up $10 billion? That amount of money would be enough to rebuild Queensland, increase renewable energy subsidies, and still have some left over for Julia Gillard to get some public speaking lessons.

Sign this petition (or I won't be your friend)

eating on the floor, Jan 25-28

2011-01-28T23:52:00.003+11:00

This is the last post I'll be doing of my food, because my parents just arrived back tonight and I'm sure my mum/dad will take over the cooking once again.

Jan 25 dinner: I made chicken, mushroom and cheese puffs. Unfortunately there was only butter puff pastry at Coles, which I thought wouldn't make much of a difference. Oh how wrong I was... the butter pastry melted into a goo as soon as I took it out of the freezer. It made wrapping the filling up nearly impossible, much less trying it to keep it in a triangular shape. It tasted really good though.

Also, does anyone know if balsamic vinegar goes off? or does it taste better with age?

Jan 26 breakfast: a mini mousse cake my cousin bought over the day before, coffee

Jan 27 breakfast: jam and butter on toast, milk

Jan 28 breakfast: scrambled eggs (I put cream in it this time and it was like HEAVEN) on toast, coffee

I've realised that I actually quite enjoy cooking - including the whole process of buying and preparing, but washing up not so much - and I'm sad to not be able to do it again for a while. I've also realised that I'm much too gluttonous to photograph food. By the end, having to take a photo before each meal became a chore as I struggled to restrain myself from digging in immediately.

I also realised that I like living alone - so much freedom! I guess I'm a naturally self-centred person for whom having to be considerate of others takes effort and so being alone feels like a sort of freedom. Same with how I now prefer to go shopping by myself. Is this a premonition of the rest of my life? Alone, all alone :(

eating on the floor Jan 21-24

2011-01-24T23:32:00.002+11:00

I know I'm getting a bit lazy with this.. This is my last week since my parents are coming back on Friday.

Jan 21 breakfast: Nutella and peanut butter on toast, milk

Jan 22 breakfast: pork buns, tea

lunch: fried white radish cake

dinner: noodles, bbq pork, veggies

Jan 24 breakfast: cheese and butter on toast, coffee

dinner: fried noodles from my grandma, Japanese pickled veggies

2011-01-24T23:21:00.004+11:00

Aston Kutcher to Natalie Portman who is hitting him in the chest:

What are you doing? You can't fight me; you're minature, you fight like a hamster!

Best movie quote ever.
From the movie No Strings Attached

--

This guy has been all over the news:

image source
Corporal Roberts-Smith has been given Australia's highest military honour for shooting dead 3 Taliban members. Apparently he exhibited humility, mateship, and love of family. No-one seemed to mention that he also exhibited a willingness to murder people - people who also have family and mates. Can we still claim that we don't glorify war?

eating on the floor Jan 19-20

2011-01-20T22:09:00.003+11:00

Jan 19 breakfast: plain old butter on toast

lunch: dumplings

afternoon tea: Moey came over to my house and we made mascarpone agli amaretti..except we didn't have amaretti biscuits nor mascarpone so I guess this should be called eggs-sugar-double cream-chocolate-almond pastry dessert.

dinner: left over celery stir fry

Jan 20 breakfast: buns, tea

lunch: rice noodles, veggies, beef that my grandma brought over

dinner: coddled eggs, rice noodle, veggies, bbq pork

I found out recently that I can hold my breath for 1 minute and 20 secs. Is that longer than normal people? because none of my cousins seemed to be able to go for longer than one minute.

2011-01-19T01:47:00.006+11:00

To me this blog is a journal, or diary, of sorts for Moey (when she can be bothered to post) and I - which may explain the arbitrariness of the things that we post up. Since this is the beginning of a new decade, I might as well take the opportunity to do a ..er.. reflection (hesitating to use that word because of the bad memories of high school english lessons it conjures up) so that in a few years time, if this is still around, I can read back on it and cringe in embarassment. Which is what I do when I read back on our old blog.

Here goes.

Currently I am going through a purging phase. Which means that during the last two years I have chucked out probably around half a ton of crap from my bedroom which had accumulated during the ten years or so when I hoarded like crazy. All kids hoard things, right? Since leaving high school I have learnt so much and have had to shoulder new responsibilities, and my mind feels overloaded a lot of the time. De-cluttering and organising my material things lets my mind feel more organised as well. At first it was hard throwing things away, but I just kept telling myself that they are just things, nothing more, and gradually got more strict on what I kept. Being able to find things when I need them, having a specific place for everything so that they don't pile up around my floor and desk, only keeping things I use - especially with clothes so that in the mornings it's easy to find something to wear, all those things really does help. Even now, whenever I get bored or when I'm stressed I often go through my room to see if there's anything I can chuck out. I'm close to being satisfied - however, my mum keeps a fair bit of her and my brother's stuff in my room, and there are still some things I can't bring myself to chuck out. One of the reasons that I am looking forward to moving out is that I can start with a blank slate. Maybe I am slightly OCD...I do like things to match (I just bought 8 identical glass jars for my pantry to replace the old ones which were all different sizes and had different coloured plastic lids. My mum can thank me later.) I'm not sure if it's normal that throwing things out and tidying things makes me happy. Aaand I've just spotted something I need to chuck out.

I dislike it when people say they will do something or want to do something, but then dilly-daly for ages. It's such a waste of time. If you say you're going to or want to do something, decide how you will go about it, then hurry the fuck up. Time is precious, ok? (exemptions apply for essays.)

I am also currently undecided on my career path. Half of me wants to work in government or in a think tank, make lots of money, be ambitious, meet lots of important people and attend lots of important functions. The other half wants to do something that can directly help people; I would be paid very little and would probably feel powerless to influence any decisions made by those important people which might have been possible had I decided to work in government. Does that make sense? Because it's getting late and I know I ramble when it's late. Maybe I'll do both - I know I will feel guilty and hypocritical if I sit in a nice office all day whilst claiming to want to improve people's lives (not to mention that I shudder at the thought of sitting in a office all day), but call me insecure, I want to see how high I can climb and prove to myself that my achievements are not limited to school marks.

And I hate getting soft toys as presents. Besides for throwing at other people, soft toys have absolutely no use at all. Even as a child, I never had any emotional attachment to any soft toy, or any toy for that matter. Present-wise, you might as well get me some boxes of tissues - at least it's practical.

eating on the floor Jan 17-18

2011-01-18T22:17:00.004+11:00

Jan 17 breakfast: sticky rice from my grandma...again.

lunch: crackers and cheese and tomato chutney

dinner: lamb chops, rice, asparagus, red wine left over from NYE (how long does an opened bottle of red wine last anyways?)

Jan 18 lunch: white radish cake

dinner: lamb chops, rice (I have a truckload of left over rice, which is why I'm eating it with everything), coddled eggs with creamy mushrooms - so effing delicious, may be the most delicious thing I've ever made.

I found the recipe for the coddled eggs in an old scrapbook from years ago where I used to stick recipes I wanted to try out. It's pretty simple:

INGREDIENTS: (specific measurements aren't really necessary for this, just use however much looks right)

-butter

-salt & pepper

-eggs

-asparagus/mushrooms/spinach - your choice

-a bit of thickened cream

METHOD:

-preheat oven to 170 degrees C

-grease a small ramekin with butter, season the base with salt & pepper and then crack an egg into each.

-place it in a roasting pan filled with hot water one-third the height of the ramekin, and bake for 4-5mins until egg white is just set but yolks are runny. (I found that it took about 7 mins)

-while eggs are baking, bring cream to boil in a pan, add mushrooms/spinach/asparagus and seasoning and let simmer.

-when eggs are ready, remove from oven and spoon creamed mushroom/spinach/asparagus on top.

eating on the floor: Jan 12-Jan 15

2011-01-16T14:28:00.003+11:00

Jan 12 breakfast: coffee, french toast with whipped cream, scrambled eggs from leftover egg

-- had some unexpected house guests so a small hiatus--

Jan 15 lunch: left over Korean chicken & potato noodles

dinner: more leftover chicken, left over celery & beef & enoki mushrooms

Jan 16 breakfast: 6 minute egg and jam on toast

eating on the floor 10 Jan-11 Jan

2011-01-11T22:08:00.011+11:00

I'm starting to find this project slightly exhausting...you might notice that in the inconsistency of colouring and brightness of the photos and the presentation - but here goes.

Jan 10 breakfast: dumplings, milk

dinner: celery & asparagus & beef & enoki mushrooms & carrots, rice, apple

Jan 11 breakfast: good old jam and mustard on toast, orange juice

lunch: sticky rice from my grandma (she gave me quite a few of these so I'm going to be eating them for a while)

dinner: eggplant & zucchini & beef, rice

(might have noticed that my favourite cooking technique is to take whatever is in the fridge, cut it up and put it in a wok)

and bonus picture:

source
hehehe

2011-01-10T23:23:00.005+11:00

So I've finally finished the roll of film and gotten it developed, so here are the photos from NYE:

poser!

photos end there due to effects of alcohol.

but here's one from new years day!

from my birthday:

dinner at Moey's house from a while ago

and this is for Moey and Rose:

More photos he re

On an unrelated note, the only button that seems to work on my TV remote is the program down button. An indication of my laziness is that when I need to go up a channel, I'd rather press the channel down button 15 times rather than walk up to the TV to press channel up.

I think I'm going slightly crazy here

2011-01-10T00:27:00.004+11:00

lizard skin from my backyard

a rose from my front yard

it needs to stop raining already.

Things never go according to plan.

THE INTERNET IS TAKING OVER MY LIFE.

I think I'll go re-organise my fridge tomorrow. It's an absolute MESS in there.

eating on the floor 8 Jan-9 Jan

2011-01-09T22:46:00.007+11:00

Jan 8 dinner: sticky rice chicken and tomatoes

Jan 9 breakfast: yoghurt & cherries & whipped cream

lunch: tartine - cheese, tuna, zucchini, tomato chutney

dinner: rice, eggplant & zucchini & fish (very very yummy, I must say)

I bought a bag of 6 zucchinis which is why I seem to eat them often.

eating on the floor 5 Jan-7 Jan

2011-01-07T20:20:00.007+11:00

Jan 5 breakfast: just a little bit of cereal because of brunch later that day

dinner: same as night before

Jan 6 breakfast: pork buns, milk

lunch: savoury sticky rice from my grandma

dinner: pork ribs & beans, rice

tonight's dinner: same as last night's but with noodles

The biggest problem with cooking for one is that any dish you make you will have to eat for the next two to three days.

eating on the floor 3 Jan-4 Jan

2011-01-04T15:37:00.006+11:00

Jan 3 breakfast: dumplings

dinner: same as last night, with an orange. I do eat fruit everyday..

Jan 4 breakfast: mingledberry jam and 6 minute egg on toast (the egg white+toast combo is particularly tasty), tea

lunch: noodles, fried fish (from my grandma), beans, and 'barbecue' sauce

dinner: tomato & egg & coriander, fried fish with kewpie mayonnaise, rice

Oh yeah, I forgot...

2011-01-03T11:34:00.003+11:00

Happy New Year.

My new years resolutions:

1. Make less self-deprecating remarks/jokes
2. Put my money where my mouth is

Now I'm off to Christmas present shopping. Yes, for the Christmas that just passed. I gotta take advantage of the sales right now in some way or other; and since I can't buy clothes etc, I'm gonna buy belated Christmas presents.

eating on the floor 20 Dec-2 Jan

2011-01-03T00:55:00.006+11:00

I'm currently hating my camera.

breakfast december 30: orange juice, nectarine, milo cereal on yoghurt

lunch: mini pizza and salad

breakfast december 31: coffee, nutella on toast

lunch: savoury sticky rice from my grandma, veggies

breakfast january 2: milk, butter&jam on toast

lunch: salad & tomato chutney

dinner: rice, stir-fry, coriander and fish fillet soup

Rose picks her nose and eats it.

2010-12-29T21:45:00.001+11:00

I'm not immature.

eating on the floor 28 Dec-29 Dec

2010-12-29T21:33:00.003+11:00

Last night's dinner - Rose & Moey came over, so we pulled out our asianess (along with the face) and the cheap red wine:

Today's lunch:

Tonight's dinner, finishing off the leftovers:

oh, and there was also whipped cream:

eating on the floor

2010-12-28T14:26:00.002+11:00

I'm going to start a little project here where I post up a photo of every meal. This isn't something to show off my nearly non existent cooking skills, but rather so that I don't end up eating Nutella on bread for dinner like last time... I'm a lazy person, I need external pressure to be motivate to make proper food when I eat at home.

I actually started taking the photos a few days ago but never got around to writing this up - that's how lazy I am. So now that I finally am bothered, here are the photos I have of the few meals I've eaten at home.

Xmas breakfast:

Boxing day breakfast:

27th - dinner:

today's breakfast:

today's lunch:

2010-12-28T00:03:00.004+11:00

Been back in Sydney a few days. Cue the mini montage of photos from my attempt to get out of the house as much as possible due to my extremely depressing situation of living alone in an empty house.

I arrived on the morning of the 24th, and by nightfall I was so desperate to get away from the depressing situation at my house that I went fishing with a few guys at Chiswick wharf.

(the location)

(the view)

(the tools - beer bottle wasn't ours, but it made a nice prop for the photo)

(the catch)

Christmas day I spent with Moey's family, but unfortunately I forgot to bring camera. Don't need photographs to prove that it was nice :)

Boxing day was spent at my aunt's place with the extended family, and the highlight was the debut of my cousin's new boyfriend (it's always a big affair with my family). Oh, and this:

MY GREAT AUNT CAN DO THE SPLITS, YO.
(twice, as well.)

She's my grandma's younger sister so I'm guessing she's at least late 60s. I haven't been able to do the splits since I was five.. now even old people are making me feel inadequate.

And before I forget, a belated merry christmas!
I have to admit though, I find Christmas to be more of a bother than anything else, due to soaring petrol/plane ticket prices, shops not being open and then congestion during boxing day sales (it took me half an hour to drive 1km today. F.M.L) Please don't call me a grinch :( I enjoy the festivities but I just think that the cons outweigh the pros.

two years late

2010-12-15T14:31:00.005+11:00

Alright, there's no point pretending my internet ban is effective - it's much harder to give up the internet than shopping, that's for certain.

GZ seems to have improved a lot during this year. In part it is due to the Asian Games held here (the paralympics just began two days ago) which meant that there have been a lot of surface jobs done to make the city look cleaner and less congested. There are now also two HUGE H&Ms as well as a massive supermarket chain(?) that sells imported foods such proper cheese and Phildelphia. I remember last year when we were trying to make tiramisu and there was no cream cheese in the shops so we had to mix cream and cheese. Why didn't I choose to do my gap year this year instead of last year when half the city was under scaffolding/dug up??

Me: So how did it go with that boy you liked?
Y: Well, we did end up going out, but we split up after a month.
Me: What, why?
Y: During that month all we did was argue..
Me: About what?
Y: Well, turns out he was a pot dealer.

All catch-ups need something like that.

2010-12-05T14:51:00.006+11:00

I'm leaving for China tomorrow and will be gone for two and half weeks, back in time for Christmas.

My body also seems to enjoy giving me my regularly irregular period at the most inconvenient times. #firstworldproblems

I'm also going to try going on an internet detox during the trip. I'm sounding more and more like a hippy...no mindless consumerism! no internet! let's go live in a cave! but I realised that my persistent stomach cramps are probably from sitting slouched in front of the computer all the time. However, there are catch-ups to be arranged whilst I'm there so I will have to check email and maybe facebook. Will try to avoid the internet apart from those, though.

toodles. x

by miriam bohm.

p.s. Julian Assange's twenty yo son has a twitter >> twitter.com/somnidea
imagine if your dad was the one who just caused all the leaders of the world's Western powers to quake in their boots and so desperate for any way to stop him that they will resort to pulling arrest warrants out of their arses.

p.p.s. This sounds extremely melodramatic, but this trip sort of signals the end of era - the end of the era where I live at home and is looked after by my mum. Once I get back, I have one month to fend for myself at home, and then another month to look for a place and move out. Slightly apprehensive, to say the least.

2010-12-01T21:05:00.006+11:00

and then there was only one.

I recently found this polaroid of my dad holding onto me while I sit on top of the poor tiger. My dad was and still is very good at convincing me to do things against my better judgement.

My dad's dog in China recently had two puppies. THEY'RE ADORABLE.

I don't actually enjoy being physically around dogs (pictures are preferred), but even I couldn't resist these two. My dad said he would bring them home to our apartment in China to stay with us when we go back next week, on the condition that I potty train them... FML

So, naturally I turn to the almighty YouTube.

First video:

"Start observing your puppy for his pre-potty behaviour." I'm supposed to follow both of them around 24/7?

Second video:

All I can remember from that video is the poop coming out of the dog's arse, which looks remarkably like the hazelnut gelato I ate on Sunday.

Yeah, my dad has succeeded once again at convincing me to do something against my better judgement.

We also went to the Annie Leibovitz exhibition at the MCA today (what is this, putting Annie L in such close proximity to dog poop!) - I'm not really qualified to critique it in any way, except to say that it is definitely worth the time, money and effort, and that this photo of Mark Morris is one of my favourite:

(I reckon he looks a bit like Chris Lilley)

my very very favourite one unfortunately I cannot remember the name of. :( It is a picture of the back of a naked man who is dancing in front of a white screen, and he is photographed in the middle of a leap. If anyone goes to the exhibition, please write down the name for me :(

I have also now decided to take the Art History and Photography unit somewhere along my degree even if it means I have to overload. Even if I give up photography later on, at least I will have gained appreciation for art in all its forms - even if I still hold that art should not require education and training to be appreciated. I believe that art ultimately is an appeal to our senses to evoke emotions, thoughts, etc. and training in the theory simply gives us a rigid framework through which to shape our interpretation, which is quite limiting. So why am I still seeking an education in art? I don't know, I've got lots and lots of contradictory thoughts in my head and I haven't had the chance to figure them out in my short ~~nineteen~~ twenty years.

"Truth Truth Truth! we have no choice left but to confess - he was a woman."

2010-11-25T19:37:00.003+11:00

Orlando by Virginia Woolf. Facinating book.

The clothing ban is going well despite all the encouragements from Haeran. I think I'm going to extend a diluted version to everything else, so that I can only buy something if I genuinely have a need for it. So I'm only allowed to buy skincare products if I run out, and I can't buy any decorative things for my room etc. Exempted from this is food and drinks, gigs, CDs and camera film, because I need something to keep me amused. I'm really anxious about how I will hold up, actually.

I was walking around the Pitt St Westfield and Myer on Sunday while trying to kill time, and I sort of felt like an outsider. Everyone in those shopping centres are there to do one thing - buy clothes, or choose what clothes to buy later. And when you know that you can't participate in that communal activity, then you feel like an external observer, like you aren't quite part of that society.

I did, however, tried on a few dresses anyways and found this strapless Marcs summer dress that fit me so perfectly that I ran out gushing to Haeran. I think this is the first time that I've found a fitted dress which wasn't too long or wasn't too loose in the chest area. It was quite incredible how good the cut was. Luckily, the colours and the pattern on the material left something to be desired so the heartache wasn't too great when the time came to put it back.

In other news, I have decided to learn to skateboard this summer. Before you start questioning whether this is really Jenny here, just listen (read) for a sec.

I'm home alone for a few weeks in January and although I've been left the car, I don't particularly feel like driving our seven-seater every time I go to Woolies to buy a tub of ice cream. The emissions will probably make the summer even hotter, which means I will have to drive to buy more ice cream, which means more emissions. IT'S A VICIOUS CYCLE.

Further, finding parking is a chore and with my physique, carpark ticket machines are my worst nightmare.

Bikes are good and I'm planning to use mine sometimes, but there aren't always places to chain bikes to, and I don't really want to wear a helmut. Rollerblades are also an option, but I don't fancy changing in and out of them in public.

So skateboarding is the next logical step! It would also be a useful transport option when I move out.

I want a plain faux-wood one like this:

source
faux wood because I have a feeling that hardwood wouldn't make a good skateboard.

Now all I have to do is find someone willing to teach me.

2010-11-21T23:54:00.004+11:00

Sorry, I'm having a slight existential/quarter-life crisis here. I have exactly a week left before I turn twenty and I feel like I've wasted all my childhood and teenage years being a good child and now I have missed my opportunity to be a trashy teenager running around abusing people and things without consequences. And once I'm twenty, it won't be long before I turn thirty... then forty...then fifty...then sixty...then suddenly I'm the old person who's pissing everyone off by hobbling off the bus at 1mm/hr during the peak hour rush.

well, no point fretting because time stops for no one.

Something else that's been bugging me for a while - in our age of feminism, why isn't a bigger deal made out of the fact that many women still adopt their husband's surname after getting married? I know that it's an age-old institution, weaved into the cultural fabric etc etc, but to me, it seems like such an inherently and visibly sexist practice that it should have ended around the same that women's right to equal pay were written into the law. And yes, equal pay still isn't realised, but at least it's brought up every now and then, whereas the practice of adopting a husband's surname is rarely publicly discussed. I believe that it's becoming less and less common, but the fact remains that it's still considered normal in the midst of all the discussion about 'respecting women'. It's a practice that just reeks of patriarchy and is a constant reminder of when women were men's property, so why are supposedly 'independent' women still doing it? Even ignoring the sexist aspects, it still seems like a strange practice. Our names are a central part of our identity, and if you change it upon marriage then aren't you redefining yourself in terms of your marriage, or more precisely, in terms of your husband? Ok, it's not really possible to divorce the issue from the patriarchal aspects. Linked to this is the fact that most children adopt their father's surnames. However, this is a slightly more complicated issue to solve because there is also the pragmatism of it. If every child were assigned a double surname which was a combination of their father's and mother's, then by the second generation it would just be impractically long. But, the issue of women adopting their husband's surnames does not bring up any of these problems, so why isn't there a more widespread rejection of it?

IF ANY OF YOU ADOPT YOUR HUSBAND'S SURNAME WHEN YOU GET MARRIED YOU WILL NO LONGER BE MY FRIEND.

just joking.

(not really.)

2010-11-14T22:20:00.014+11:00

Inspired by THIS website, I have decided that I will stop buying clothes for one year. I would include accessories in that, but I still need to buy some sterling silver earrings for my ear piercings (I consider it a necessity because I am getting sick of having to swap around my one earring that doesn't turn my ears black to stop my holes from closing), so I'll chuck accessories into the ban as soon as I've got them. And socks, because my socks are wearing out pretty badly and I doubt they'd last the year.

I guess it's just part of my wish to free myself from consumerism so that I will no longer associate happiness with buying things because let's face it, it's quite ridiculous. It's one of the things I've taken away from Marxism, even if I disagree with 83% of Marxist theory. It's also an environmental thing too - so much environmental damage is caused by consumerism and I just want to do my part. Maybe banning myself from buying clothes for one year won't make that much of a difference in terms of pollution prevented, but if I can change my lifestyle, then over the course of my life it should make some sort of a difference. It all sounds a bit pretentious, sententious and idealistic, but I'm young, I'm a USyd arts student, I'm allowed to be.

Although in the past year I've cut down on my purchases a lot already, I know that I'm going to have a hard time especially since I'm going to China in December. Fortunately I'm only there for two weeks so I'll probably be occupied with visiting relatives and eating ten times my weight in food.

One year is a really, really long time... but I've been conditioned to be a consumer since the day I was born (the fact that I was born in China only 11 years after they deregulated doesn't change that!), so it will probably take that long to undo it all.

Wish me luck.

EDIT. Just to clarify, I'm not doing this as a protest against consumerism and mass production. I just want to stop that mental association of buying things and happiness that has sort of become ingrained in me. Environmental degradation resulting from over-consumption is also another motivating factor, but I don't believe that eliminating mass production is the solution to that either. But that's another story for another day.

Also, I'm not joining the website on their project; I just saw it and decided to do my own version. So I'm not following their rules, guidlines, etc.

2010-11-10T22:27:00.003+11:00

You've stolen the spotlight from me time and time again, starting from the moment you got into a better high school than me all those years ago. I used to just brush it off. But this time, it really stung because it was something that I really cared about. However, I thank you for providing me with the jealousy to motivate me to work harder and find my own way to shine (as cheesy as it sounds) - starting now.

If I want it, I gotta go for it.

E.g. If I want to be less lazy about cooking, I gotta start now, starting with the little things. Hey, the failed sunny-side-up was the un-fresh egg's fault, not mine.

Yes, I tend to eat on the living room floor a lot.

2010-11-08T22:00:00.002+11:00

Today 3pm was the deadline for my last major essay this year. I slept 4 hours last night to get it done; I got to the train station at 2:40pm today afternoon and had to wait ten minutes for the train; got to Redfern station and sprinted/powerwalked to the office which made me feel sick - and then missed the deadline by exactly TEN minutes.

Usually I would be cursing at Cityrail and its apparent obliviousness to the concept of efficiency, but I really have no one else to blame but myself considering that I had a week and a half to do the essay and left the bulk of it till the last two days. Will I ever learn?

From that essay:

"The American missionary, being well-established in China, largely acted as a informant to American foreign policy-makers due to their command of the language, their insight into Chinese culture and their proximity to the events (Denning 1990). The missionary’s unique position straddling both Chinese and American civil society..."

I couldn't help but chuckle when I wrote that.

I like hot stormy weather - I reckon it's got something to do with the fact that in movies a storm usually signals that something exciting is about to happen. And the hot part... well I just prefer hot weather to the cold. Mix them together and mMm.

I also got a mosquito bite while taking this photo, so yeah, it's finally summer, y'all!

Bunny rabbit with neck fat rolls made by Moey on my George Clooney coffee machine.

I'm just collecting handy tips for when I move out.

2010-11-02T12:35:00.003+11:00

(recipe here)

I didn't even know that you could make cakes in micowaves! I ran off to the kitchen to try this out as soon as I finished watching the video - and it actually turned out really, really well. You couldn't even tell that I just dumped some baking powder onto normal flour as a substitute for self raising flour, and that the jar I assumed contained castor sugar did not have a label at all so it could have been salt, or that I didn't have cocoa powder nor instant coffe and instead used Milo. And it's still quite good. So it IS actually fool-proof.

Yummy cake that only requires 6 ingredients, a fork, a spoon, a bowl/mug, a microwave and 5 minutes to make?

WIN.

penny lane

2010-11-02T00:59:00.004+11:00

"I always tell the girls, never take it seriously, if you never take it seriosuly, you never get hurt, if you never get hurt, you always have fun....and if you ever get lonely, just go to the record store and visit your friends.. "

I had no idea that she was real (albeit her name is 'really' pennie lane)

or, that there's actually a song by that same name, from the Beatles' Sgt Pepper days..

...I love this movie

2010-10-30T16:33:00.003+11:00

Sunday
"Telle est la tragédie de l'amour. On a les sentiment d'être la première personne à penser des choses et à les dire mais on ne fait que répéter les mêmes mots qui remontent à la nuit des temps. Ce sont juste les gens qui changent. Les phrases sont toujours pareilles."

"Such is the tragedy of love. We think ourselves to be the first person to feel and say those things about love, but all we are doing is repeating those words that date back to the dawn of time. The phrases are always the same, it's only the people who change."

-L'Affreux by Franz-Olivier Giesbert

Tuesday

- R and O walks in -

R: Wassup fags!

- O walks away -

R: oh shit I forgot he was gay...

(he actually went to the toilet)

Friday

"God made marijuana, Man made alcohol; who do you trust?"

Saturday

HOLY MOTHER OF LORD, WHERE HAS THIS BEEN ALL MY LIFE.

(My mum mentioned the other day that I spend a lot more time studying now that I did back during my HSC year. What I didn't have the heart to tell her was that I was generally more productive back in high school whereas now, everytime I sit in front of the computer to do my work I end up watching random things like that on youtube. But I think she was sort of impressed with this particular new skill when I showed her. Not so impressed by the fact that it still leaves one side of the shirt hanging off though.)

2010-10-22T22:54:00.007+11:00

Not sure what to make of this, whether to lament at the tragedy of it all, or to laugh at the base humour of the last scene. Epitome of dark comedy, I think.

stolen off Dianna Agron's (Quinn from Glee) tumblr

putting things into perspective

2010-10-21T23:52:00.002+11:00

Moey's cute little picture reminded me of this video.

I need to remember this more often.

BTW, if you've never heard of/watched the Green brothers on youtube, I would like to invite you to guess how old this guy is..

I seriously thought he was around 40-50 years old, but it turns out that he's not yet 30. oops.

8 days and counting...

2010-10-21T22:29:00.009+11:00

I watched A Single Man today for the second and third time today. It's still as beautiful as the first, though i guess i can see why some people criticise Ford's frequent use of colour enhancement. Whilst watching i sometimes felt like he just missed the perfect moment, or stuck it in unneccessarily (there are probably too many double letters here); shouldn't it be seamless? unnoticeable?

Things i didn't think could be justified by screenshots: Nicholas Hoult as Kenny, the house, and Carlos (mmm..how flippin' hot is Carlos?!).

In the 'making of' featurette, Ford said something about needing to absorb every moment in one's day because that's all we're gonna get..fuck. i hate coming to that realisation because what did i do today?

*I found out that apparently, on my shift last sunday, i lost my bosses $50 because i didn't work the EFTPOS properly. They are broke so this feels like a big deal. Also, I frequently call my bosses incompetent...awkward.

*I made the adhoc decision to meet up with Belinda for a little story-time. It was yum (Bondi burgers ftw and frogurt/ben&jerrys), fun and sunny, and we bumped into people from the past, who I don't think necessarily remembered me (though they were quick to point that my hairline was on fire..from a suntan)

*I took a chance and played a game of textnis. As this occured throughout the course of dinner, I had to ensure my concerned mother that she should have no fears about 'losing' her daughter (gosh mothers are dramatic).

i don't care what the weather report says. Tomorrow will be warm, I can tell:)

look! free ballet performance:

2010-10-21T22:28:00.003+11:00

Stephanie Williams and Kevin Jackson. Photography Liz Ham

Telstra Ballet in the Stadium

FREE performance under the stars
Saturday 6 November 7pm

This November The Australian Ballet is heading to CUA Stadium, home of the Penrith Panthers, to perform a selection of the world’s most loved ballets in a FREE performance.

It’s the perfect opportunity for friends and family to come together and see The Australian Ballet’s best dancers showcase their talent. Highlights will include dances from Don Quixote, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. Audiences will also be treated to a performance of Trace, a recent contemporary work from corps de ballet dancer Alice Topp.

Whether you are an avid ballet fan or a fresh first-timer, this event is not to be missed. Come along and enjoy a spectacular evening of the very best dance can offer.

TELSTRA BALLET IN THE STADIUM
CUA Stadium
Mulgoa Road, Penrith
Saturday 6 November, 7pm
FREE admission

Gates open at 4pm for a 7pm performance.

Once venue is at capacity, gates will be closed. No alcohol, breakable glass or chairs can be brought into the venue. Alcohol, food and non-alcoholic beverages are available for purchase at the venue.

In the case of inclement weather, please check The Australian Ballet website at 3pm on Saturday 6 November

maybe this is slightly pretentious given that I don't really know anything about ballet besides doing it for a few months when I was 4 or 5, but I really liked it when Moey & I went to see the Silver rose a few months ago.

Unfortunately this is all the way in Penrith :(

Despite the distance, does anyone want to go? I mean, it's free. and what asian doesn't like freebies?

2010-10-19T01:14:00.005+11:00

dilemma:

not sure if I've mentioned this before, but the USyd Architecture faculty offers a film photography unit which seems really good as it combines both theory and practical as well as learning to use a dark room - which is probably as much as you can expect from a photography course without doing a full time, professional course or something. Unfortunately, our snobby Arts faculty insists that I do an art history unit first (or concurrently with the photography unit). Although it's technically possible considering the liberty that comes with my degree, I had planned to use my elective units for French and Chinese, which would certainly be more pertinent to my future career. I also do not know whether I can handle another hardcore Arts subject after this semester's religion unit, especially considering that I am even less knowledgable in art than in religion. But on the other hand, isn't tertiary education about stepping out of your comfort zone and broadening your horizons? I'm really, really glad that I took the religion unit because it really has changed the way I look at the world - maybe it would be the same with taking art history? Ultimately, it depends on whether the photography course would be worth it. If I do a quick search of the internet, the only courses that I can find are mostly really short yet really expensive ones that seem extremely limited in terms of depth. Playing around with the camera and reading online/book guides can only take me so far, since I am one of those people who only get things done when there is pressure from other people. But maybe this is a just a phase that I am going through because I just need something to occupy me when I get sick of sitting in my ivory tower and dreaming up of ways to save the world.

suggestions? (please don't say "follow your heart" - my heart is not a road sign)

blergh.

2010-10-16T18:38:00.002+11:00

I don't know what happened but today was spent whining internally about how boring the homelife is, especially having been to melbourne and garnering a glimpse of the college life where you get to be the person you are at uni 24/7 (i like public me much more than sloth home-body me), and be not-broke (as i have been painfully enduring this week). This was not aided (perhaps it was caused) by arguments with my father about recklessness.

Thankfully i stumbled across this beauty - fuck taking ourselves too seriously! I enjoyed the sounds and the lack of narcissitic pensive shots of musos...and hope you do too.

Holy Fuck - 'Red Lights'

enjoyenjoyenjoy

Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die

2010-10-15T22:21:00.002+11:00

(finally reunited with the DSLR!)

spent a while in Max Brenner making patterns on our receipts with the candles

Staring at the one on the left is hypnotising, but its effect seems to be lost when scanned into the computer.

2010-10-11T23:53:00.005+11:00

I think I've run out of steam for this semester, like I'm just waiting for the holidays. Which is kind of bad considering I still have about half of my assessments to go. So instead of preparing for my (facinating) presentation on the paradox of androgyny, I'm going to write my sort of New Years resolution... at least in regards to uni anyways.

So sometimes I can be a bit of a control freak. I like to categorise, codify, systemise, list things out. In that way, unless you consider it an OCD, I'm quite rational - which supposedly is a masculine attribute. Sometimes I wonder if that makes me less feminine or something; maths has always been my best subject at school and I enjoyed it too; I was good at physics and seriously considered doing engineering; I don't usually display my emotions publicly; I'm not very intuitive either. So am I not feminine? What does feminine mean anyway? Who constructed these notions of masculine and feminine? What are the power relations that are embedded in the construction of these stereotypes? But anyways I digress; this isn't a religion/INGS tutorial... So my controlling nature has led me to subconciously identify objectives for each semester of uni, objectives which have so far been just kept to myself, only repeated by the voice in my head. But goals are good, and writing goals down encourages me to follow them especially when they are public. At least that's the reason I give myself for writing these here and exposing my weird thought processes. Here goes.

Last semester was my first semester of uni; so the goal was to get used to the processes of uni work; i.e. learn to study on my own instead of being spoon fed. Success: average...I still ended up doing only the basic required readings and research (sometimes not even). But I got a good average, so I suppose it will suffice.

This semester my aim was to make some freakin' friends and get a social life, and develop social skills like how to make small talk and learn to filter the things that come out of my mouth. Success: average... I haven't really made any friends in my Religion tut because they're all hard core Arts kids with a huge vocabularly/bullshitting skills (there's a fine line there) pertaining to abstract metaphysical stuff, which is intimidating. Woe is us political science kids, we don't really belong anywhere. Which brings me to next point.

Next semester I shall actively participate in societies etc. This semester I also joined a few, but only ended up going to the French one regularly. I've sort of started on this one by signing up for Mentor Program and Mentor Taskforce for next year, but that's only for a few weeks and I haven't found any societies that I'm really passionate about for the rest of the semester. I shall also try to write something for the Sydney Globalist Magazine... if I don't chicken out. And volunteer for something. At the moment I have my eye on this program that my friend told me about, which involves taking refugee kids to excursions and camps around Sydney. Sounds like my cup of tea. However, I'm not sure about whether this is realistic if I also move out next semester. Is it really possible to juggle work, uni, social life and all this extra-curricular stuff and still be able to keep coffee intake to under 10 per day? Especially with the possibility of having to do 5 subjects next semester.

Dilemmas dilemmas.

2010-10-08T14:05:00.005+11:00

We won't forget you.

It's easy to take for granted that the people around you will always be there, and sometimes it feels like they'll be there forever; that your great-grandma will always be there when you visit each year, that you'll see your grandparents every weekend, that your mother will be there every night when you go home. But nothing stays the same forever, everyone goes in the end.

it's times like these that you realise sleep is overrated.

2010-10-05T22:00:00.000+11:00

Writing three major essays in four weeks has left my brain feeling like a lump of dead coral, and right now it's as much use as one. It doesn't help that for my last 2,500 world essay, two of the items on the essay checklist that our tutor gave us was "Have you given your essay a catchy title and subtitle?" and "Does your essay have any humourous moments?" ... Dude, wittiness and humour is generally the last thing on my mind when I'm writing essays, especially when I'm already struggling to churn out coherent sentences. Anyways, I didn't have any fun writing the essay, so you do not deserve any fun when marking it. FEEL MY PAIN, BITCH. Ok not really, because I actually like the lecturer who's marking the essays, but that statement just wouldn't have sounded right if I used 'venerable professor' at the end of it.

Caffeine dependency has also reached new heights. I can't wait for my 4 month holiday :(

btw, try saying 'irish wristwatch' as fast as you can.

2010-10-01T23:07:00.005+10:00

mid sem break =

1. lots of frantic essay writing

these are just a few of my friends...I think I must have borrowed and returned nearly a hundred books this last month.

2. trip to Adelaide

Adelaide is the most boring city I have ever been to. I'm not sure if it even deserves to be classified as a 'city'. If you ever feel like going there to see what it's like, just go to Penrith or something. I'm not joking. I took the DSLR there, and this was the only picture I took. All we did there was eat...a lot. My dad's friend who lives there is a food fanatic and the second night there he took us to an oyster bar where we shared 6 dozen oysters between the 4 adults. Oysters natural, oysters kilpatrick, oliver, thai, pesto, caviar & sour cream, chilli & cheese...if you know how much I love oysters, then you can guess my immediate adoration (in the most innocent sense) for that man. Unforuntately I made the mistake of drinking beer in front of my mum ("Jenny, you're not gonna drink the whole bottle by yourself, right??" "mum, it's only small bottle, and beers only got a small alcohol content" "I bet you do this everytime you go out, don't you."). My brother also fell off the raised stool, in semi-slow motion - it was the most hilarious thing ever. I still laugh when I replay it in my head. I know I sound sadistic, but I swear everyone else thought it was hilarious too!
My dad's friend also has a restaurant that we squatted in for most of the trip and which I swear probably makes the best southern Chinese food in Australia; I'm still drooling over the fish with lemon juice mmm.. the amazing view of the river also helps.

3. Learnt to drive manual

actually this photo is in an automatic car and was from ages ago when Moey & I decided that getting 50c soft serves was the best decision of the whole night after disappointment at the factory theatre(?). I'm glad I got some practice driving one handed that night - because driving manual is so fucking difficult, you have no idea. I practised accelerating from a stationary position for an hour on a sort of quiet street (I'M SO SORRY FOR ALL THE PEOPLE THAT I HELD UP WHEN I KEPT STALLING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD WHILE ATTEMPTING TO U-TURN) but when I finally took the car out onto the road it still felt like I was driving for the first time again - the fear, the panic, the anxiety, the whole lot. But I have a reasonable amount of coordination skills ... and by the third session I drove all the way to the airport and only stalled once! it's a big achievement, ok?
Considering how difficult it was for me even though I'm usually a confident driver in automatic cars, I now have new gained respect for those who learnt to drive from scratch in manuals. I also have to add that manual driving and having to operate a clutch is one of those things where people with long legs and big feet have a huge advantage. So I think I'll stick to automatic cars.

ho ho ho

2010-09-24T15:31:00.001+10:00

Q: how many hipsters does it take to change a lightbulb?

A: a really obscure number, you've probably never heard of it.

I'll be back once I've recovered from writing 3 essays in 4 weeks.

2010-09-17T21:19:00.009+10:00

One of the best songs that I've come across for a while... It's such a perfect mix of pop and jazz but its her vocals which make the song. I can't stop listening to it; it sounds better each time.

Kimbra - Settle Down from Forum5 Recordings on Vimeo.

>Kimbra's myspace< (Good Intent is also awesome.) Apparently she's already sort of big? pardon me, I'm living under a rock right now.

2010-09-15T17:57:00.003+10:00

Happy birthday, Rose - for last week

love magic candles.

I swear my hair isn't always this gross...