step, step, one, two, me

well i've been doing the job hunt thang again and it seems to be much easier this time. i've already had two interviews - one i want, and one i'll take untill i find something better. the one that i had this morning was really good. i was abit nervous tho - infact i'm still feeling a little shakey. it was exactly my kind of workplace with nice managers and a good outlook on how to run a business. good old-fashioned customer service - it's wierd that that sort of thing is so hard to find these days.

other stuff:

i went back to ballroom again this week and with no swing in between it felt like one long week of ballroom. the novelty factor is still there but when i went swing dancing last nite i suddenly realised how much i missed it/love it. swing dancing is soo organic and natural and the movements make sense. perhaps i was feeling slightly oppressed by the shakles of just learning the steps at ballroom- i was craving improvisation, styling, expression, REAL lead and follow, conversational connection.
the thing is that i dont really KNOW if ballroom does have all these things that i love about swing because i'm still in the beginner stages. sure i've been around the traps at swing for a while now* so i'm pretty comfortable with the basic steps etc and have gone beyond these levels and can view lindyhop in quite a different way than say a beginner swing dancer. it could take me years of learning ballroom before i discover all of this and can make an adequate comparison.
in the mean time, as i mentioned earlier, i'm enjoying the novelty factor.
the music is incredibly bizarre as well. it is like EVERY single genre you can think of and nothing really has all that much energy to it (well not the way that i feel energy in music anyway) ..unless you count the pumping, wanna-pull-your-hair-out, disco music.

been shopping alittle lately too. on the search for the ultimate outift:
-comfy for bike riding and yoga.
-breathable fabrics
-still looks nice enough to wear in public or out in a bar (why cant i ride my bike to the pub dammit?)
dont know if such a thing exists but i'm experimenting with a few things. ..and how on earth did leggings become fashionable, i really dont know.

i start doing work at my friend's school next week. i will go twice in the first week so hopefully you'll get lots of nice anecdotes** about kids with snot, crayons and playtime snacks.

for those of you whom are not in melb at the moment: it's grandfinal season, so that means parades, bbq's and terrible traffic. the royal melb show is also on for those of you whom ever forked out $30 to go see the carnies with their front teeth missing. the weather is also starting to warm up and everyone is in a nice sunny mood.



*not to imply that i'm the world's expert or anything.
**within reason ofcourse, i'm not actually sure if i'm aloud to blog anything at all out of respect for the school and it's students.

o brother where art thou

this film ROCKS!!
watched it on the weekend and enjoyed it waaaay more than The Big Labowski or Intolerable Cruelty. it's a real thing of beauty. every single scene is a anecdote all it's self and the film eventually ambles along into an overall story with a neat little conclusion. it's not very often taht i get to the end of a film and want to watch it all again from the beginning straight away and this is one of them.

right now Smoothie's flatmates are watching a show on sbs called Oz. it is possibly the most violent thing i have ever seen - and i dont think i should be even half watching it this close to bed time.

ballroom.

last i was taken along to a ballroom dancing class. quite willingly really, i was interested to see what it was all about including the technique, culture, rhythms and any simularities or differences to swing dancing.
we went to a relatively small studio (that seems to operate every nite of the week) and i did a beginners class. it was held in a hall along side two other classes and loud music blarring from the stereo. i spose i cant really complain considering that it was free but i honestly couldnt hear a thing that was going on. but quite a generally enjoyable experience. everyone in the class seemed to be picking it up ok and having a pretty good time. there was no nice introductions to the other students i noticed but those who were keen to make friends made themselves known.
i have to confess that it has been quite some time since i attended a dance class let alone one where i was a beginner in a whole new style. i found it relatively confusing actually. and remembered what it felt like to be tripping over my own feet again.
we stayed for what is called "the circle" where all the dances learnt in the previous class are done in a rotating circle that includes all other students at the school. it's a nice way of bridging the gaps between beginners and everyone else and building communities. i made some nice friends during this phase (and also discovered which ones didn't like participating in such activities).
next was social dancing which went for approximately 2 hours. social dancing entails of much of the same stuff that swing does except (yes the girls can ask the boys too) each dance is dictated by the music played - no making it up as you go along. and despite being a follow- heavy nite (typical) i got quite a few dances. some nice friendly leads showed me many new dances that i hadnt learnt before and some that i had. it was interesting what i discovered about the way i was learning. i really needed to know about the counts: 'how many beats is this step? 6count?' i also found myself much less comfortable with remembering rhythms and realised my reliance upon pure following. it wasnt untill the end of the nite that i found my groove though. and i was able to feeel the dance through my partner.
i suspect i'll go back again this week. my only reluctancies were to do with:
-the focus on certain styling that i might find waaay too over the top for my tastes. like wrist gestures, high chests and chins, pointed toes etc etc. (would i go so far as to suggest that it is "too feminine for me"?)
-while there are something like 8 styles and 38 dances to learn i fear that while i have very little interest in learning any styling that is suggested, i would find it eventually abit boring (?) ..for lack of a better word.

a funny.

i cant take any credit for the following (this is care of Smoothy - i dont know where he got it from) but this is for those who like funnies:

A husband takes his wife to play her first game of golf. The wife
promptly hacked her first shot right through the window of the biggest house adjacent to the course.

The husband cringed, "I warned you to be careful! Now we'll have to go up there, find the owner, apologise, and see how much your lousy drive is going to cost us."

So the couple walked up to the house and knocked on the door. A warm voice said, "Come on in."
When they opened the door they saw the damage that was done: Glass was all over the place, and a broken antique bottle was lying on its side near the broken window.

A large black man reclining on the couch asked, "Are you the people that broke my window?"
Uh..yeah, sir. We're sorry about that," the husband replied.
"Oh, no apology is necessary. Actually I want to thankyou. You see, I'm a Genie, and I've been trapped in that bottle for a thousand years. Now that you've released me, I'm allowed to grant three wishes. I'll give you each one wish, but if you
don't mind, I'll keep the last one for myself."

Wow, that's great!" the husband said. He pondered a moment and blurted out, "I'd like a million dollars a year for the rest of my life."

"No problem," said the genie. "You've got it, it's the least I can do.
And I'll guarantee you a long, healthy life! And now you, young lady, what do you want?" the genie asked.

I'd like to own a gorgeous home complete with servants in every country in the world," she said.

Consider it done, "the genie said. "And your home s will always be safe from fire, burglary and natural disaster s!"

"And now," the couple asked in unison, "What's your wish, genie?"

"Well, since I've been trapped in that bottle and haven't been with a woman in more than a thousand years, my wish is to have sex with your wife!"

The husband looked at his wife and said, "Gee, honey, you know we both now have a fortune, and all those houses. What do you think?"

She mulled it over for a few moments and said, "You know, you're right.
Considering our good fortune, I guess I wouldn't mind, but what about you, honey?"

"You know I love you sweetheart," said the husband. "I'd do the same for you!"

So the genie and the woman went upstairs where they spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying each other. The genie was insatiable. After about thr ee hours of non-stop sex, the genie rolled over and looked directly into her eyes and asked, "How old are you and your husband?"

" Why, we're both 35," she responded, breathlessly.

"No Kidding." he said, "Thirty-five years old and both of you still believe in genies?"

onwards and upwards.

"onwards and upwards" -that's what they say in the classics, right? and how could it not be true in this instance? i'm moving on from something that isn't pleasing me but also increasing my happiness to a higher plain.

for those of you that dont know where i have been working and for the reasons in which i hate it then you'll have to ask me about it when i'm much older and can look back and laugh.
but big changes are occuring at the moment so i while i feel three years older and 10x tougher i wont be enduring much more of it as i have given my notice.

i've also been offered a unique opportunity to go and get some more experience out in the classroom. which is perfectly ideal - considering i was getting the point where i was contemplating doing some sort of volunteer work to feed my soul. but this particular opportunity is far more selfish given my interest in the industry. dont worry bloggers, i will keep you posted.

on other fronts:

-Smoothy took me out mountain bike riding ..which is an entire story all in it's self. hey if you think the professional guys are adrenaline junkies, try doing it when you've only just figured out how to stay ON a bike. death wish?? needless to say there was a stack involved which left me quite shaken. BUT the important part of this story is actually experiencing a slice of the hobby that Smoothy is soo passionate about. it's WAY more fun than road riding - infact it's a whole different ball game- i can see how people could end up spending so much time dedicated to it. ..oh and i saw 2 dead kangaroos.

-last nite i did the supportive girlfriend thing and went along to a race. it was interesting in some ways. i did bring my new friend along though so it was substantially less boring than it could have been. Smoothy's team placed at 3rd which is super considering he did two thirds of his team's laps/riding.

-as of two nites ago i'm considering how likely it is to get my butt on some extravagant trip to some nice place around the world. i'm half way to my savings goal but do i want to blow it all in one go?? bloggers? would i be better off investing in some shitbomb car for next year so that i can spend less time on public transport and more time making money or studying??

-my new friend is very nice. i will write you some funny stories about her all too soon i'm sure. she is rather spontaneous and has a knack for saying slightly inappropriate things in ideal situations. it's very funny.

gotta run spagettiOs.

bah humbug!

bloggers. there are times in a girls life when she feels like she needs to not ask the advice of her unsupportive mother but rather throw those delicate questions about life out into the VOID that is the internet.
so tell me, what is it all about?
should i hate my job this much?
is it unreasonable to expect more?
am i unemployable?

fuck no. i fuckking rock! and all you mother fuckers that think otherwise can sit on it and rotate.

yes i'm posting mad. and damn it feels good.

weighty questions

my Smoothy* is quite concerned with weights. he is quite determined in his quest for getting down to "race weight" and has gone a long way out of his way to drop heaps off his bike and is constantly weighing stuff. apparantly he used to take his bike parts down to the local grocer to have them weighed with his fruit and veg.
not that he hasnt tried to find his own scales, that is..

first came the electronic kitchen scales. small, precise and great for nuts and bolts.

then came the digital bathroom scales. we shopped around abit for these. naturally, trying them all out in store.

and finally, because he is SUCH a goldielocks, came the hanging scales. that i think are usually used by fish mongers etc.

ofcourse i shrugged it all off as natural Smoothy behaviour and didnt give it another thought. little did i realise exactly how much enjoyment i would be getting out of such gadgets. i found that i liked measuring myself sooo much that it has turned into a bit of a game. i like to measure myself:
-with or without shoes
-with or without clothes
-before and after a shower
-before and after a meal
..but my favourite one is before and after i go to the toilet. is that wierd?? is there something wrong with me? that i like to get an idea of exactly how many mls pass through me at any one time?


*note: how i use the word "my". possessive much?