once upon a time..

once upon a time there was a girl with pig-tails who liked to dance. despite her efforts and many hours at yoga she wasnt the most co-ordinated of girls -but her friends still liked her. (..especially when she would pretend to fall over and hurt herself in front of large crowds.)
one day when she was out dancing she discovered a boy with the nicest arms she had ever seen. "my-oh-my! how did you get such smoooth, smooth arms?" she enquired. the boy responded by describing all the wonderful outdoors activities that he liked to do -like rock-climbing, bike riding, and snow boarding. the girl became excited and thought that she would like to do all those fun things too. first the boy took her bike riding. the girl couldnt really ride a bike, but that didnt matter. he was very nice about it and didnt laugh too hard when she tried to stop and start (this took some time).
he said "dont worry, you'll get better with practice."


to find out if the girl DID infact get better, you'll have to wait for the next installment.

bikey-bike

yesterday i got another brand new toy to match my new glasses. it's spunky. it's red. it's 8x3 speed. and it's speedy. (bloggers, what do you think i should name it?) it's a mountain bike but has relatively slick tyres for a mountain bike and should be quite suitable to road riding as well.
i only took it for quite a short ride yesterday but as soon as i actually get moving today i will get out there and see what it can really do. i didnt believe Smoothy at how much difference a (half) decent bike makes to the whole experience. while i'm thankful that i even had access to my mum's bike, i'm now totally aware of how crap it is to ride. it was stiff, heavy and didnt click into gear too easily. my new bike is lovely - and feels like it has power steering in comparison.
i'm trying to decide where i should ride it to today. i could ride home and hang out there, or i could ride it to yoga in clifton hill, or i could ride it to see cairo club down the street. or i could ride it randomly around the place and see what happens.
the weather isnt as beautiful and sunny today as it has been the last two days. friday was just stunning. not an inch of cloud to be seen and blue-er than i could have hoped. even the 20mins my friend and i spent sitting out on the grass in the sun was more vitamin D than i've had in months. just gorgeous.
today is the last day of my long weekend. i feel like i've done many lovely things with my time off. including: virus, jw, breaky out, dinner with ham and cheese, sleep ins, nice food etc etc.

new specs

they're here! i picked them up last nite. i REALLY like them.
see pic:

not only do they look way hotter than my last pair but they also help me see. i didnt realise just how much more blind i had gotten in the last two years. i put on these new ones and suddenly i can SEE. i can see EVERYTHING. so far i think i'm doing ok in terms of adjusting to them; i only had one moment of headache-dizziness last nite in the first ten minutes.
and before anyone asks, No i didn't order them online. i'm still very dubious about shopping online -not knowing what i'm gunna get etc. although i know it seems to be quite popular at the moment with some friends purchasing some very cute / nerd t-shirts. ..although there are some rather amusing things out there ..and the savings that Smoothy makes on bike gear is AMAZING!

okay, i'm outta here, it's beautiful and sunny out there and i'm sitting inside on the computer!! what tha? i'm going to the park.

this and that

i ordered some new glasses yesterday. i'm rather excited about it all really. this will be my second pair ever! i'm quite over my first pair. they are plain, boring and have started fading to a copper-y type colour. my new pair will be none of those things. i might post a pic when they arrive (approx 5 - 14 days.)

i also had my second drawing class on friday. this time we drew glass bottles arranged on a mirror. i had a few issues with my elipses (gone crooked) and lost my centre axis once or twice) - mainly due to the fact that i didnt leave myself enough space to be able to step back from my easle. but i was quite happy with my picutre. it ws quite challenging and i felt a did a good job. i think i got a little lost in the colours again but i'm working towards including other elements like: lightsource, depth, reflections, backgrounds and object relationships.
i look forward to next week. ..although i suspect that my friend is not enjoying it at all and has sudden fits of grumpiness surrounding the classes. i cant help it that, i'm enjoying it. i'm not going to provide sympathy grumpiness. that sucks!

i also had my hair done on friday. got rid of all the little red spots and have gone dark all over in two slightly different shades. quite strong colours - it makes my anticipation for my new glasses grow even stronger.

this coming weekend i will have a three day weekend which i am REALLY looking forward to. these split weekends have been killing me, it feels like i barely have a chance to unwind and i'm back at work again. i'm even dreaming about it. hopefully i'll get used to it soon. but the break this weekend will be good either way.

this time of year is the time to buy underwear as well. oh my god it is cheap. i've bought five SETS for the same price as one decent bra. lucky me. i might need to stop spending money soon tho and get back into saving mode. ..even if i am obcessive compulsive about storage and want to re-do my entire bedroom.

last nite i dropped in to see the cairo club at railway hotel in bruny. quite small, and only oldies there but alright. i had one slow dance with my squeeze, one crazy solo dance by myself on the carpet and one dance with an old guy who took pity on me. i really enjoyed it. i think i might go dancing again this weekend. havent decided which of the 5 possible events i'll go to - but probably one or two, until i'm sick of it again.

ok, that's all from me for the moment. cherio kidios!

the best, the worst and the moderate.

the squeeze and i have been dining out a fair bit lately - taking advantage of a voucher book that he somehow acquired. we've been going to all sorts of places that we wouldn't normally go which is good. and on those nites when we're a bit clueless it provides to basic ideas of where we can go for malaysian food (for example). i'm sure we're not really saving all that much money but the experience is fun.
on sat nite we went to this place called boheme on bridge rd. it didnt look terribly interesting from the outside and i started getting worried when i read the menu but it proved to have quite nice food. after consulting the waiter* i settled on a chicken disk that was AMAZING. yum yum yum. perfectly cooked, tender with al dente rice and vegies, the sauce not too salty or overpowering. delicious. i wasnt as impressed with Smoothy's meal (some sort of bacon, tomatoe chilli pasta) and the waiter lost points after recomending the mars bar cake (which was then served in a melted mess) but overall an enjoyable meal.
the best food i've had all year has been at place on mt alexander rd called Dimples. not in the book, and chosen by pot luck. reasonably priced. FANTASTIC food! home made pastas. simple flavours done well. they are in absolutely in no danger of getting carried away with too many complicated ideas until it ends up in a mush! very impressed, we'll be going back there i'm sure!

although i'm starting to suspect that eating out isnt really all that good for me. i should get back into the habbit of cooking at home. for starters it's way more expensive than cooking and when i cook, i actually KNOW what i'm gunna get. and it rarely disappoints. i suspect that i may need to invest in my own chef's knife after being spoilt by Smoothy's knife set in his kitchen. a crap knife makes take take three times as long and a million times more frustrating. ..but doesnt a bad worker, blame his tools??

worst place we've been to: Loco Express at highpoint. imagine a cafe, now imagine it at highschool. and was run by highschool students, with primary school food. with expensive prices. not even a voucher can justify that place. crap!

*yes, i'm doing this more and more often lately - it seems quite worth while especially when i'm feeling super indecisive.

pirates of the suck-a-bian.

friday nite i went to see pirates of the caribean- dead man's chest. the sequal. as a general rule sequals that get made purely because the first film made shit loads of money and dont actually have any relevance to the overall story are a bit sucky. but i thought i'd take a punt on this one - i mean the first one was exceptionally good and the second one still contained marvellous ingredients eg, pirates, johnny depp. unfortunately this film did not come through with the goods. while it was mildly amusing to watch it actually never came together in some sort of sensical way. it had no rhythm almost like the editor just wasnt doing his job properly - surely they can save all taht hoo-ha for the special section on the dvd?
i remembered walking out the cinema feeling jibbed. it just didnt wrap up properly, there was no resolution to the plot and no character development either.
i then watch the original one on sunday nite (as it was shown on tv) and all my doubts were re-confirmed. the first one is brilliant with all sorts of interesting themes going on about good vs. evil /morality etc etc. and the sequal is actually really flat. DISAPPOINTMENT.
so fellow readers, just like all those critics who shit-canned the davinci code movie, i'm imploring you to avoid this film and avoid disappointment.
..at least until it comes out on video (3day rental - after new release but before weekly).

drawing it out

today i attended my first visual arts (drawing and painting) class in many years. i decided to begin a short course at the community centre with a friend to give my brain some more food - yes i feel like it's going to sleep!
and yes i had an excellent time. and yes i think my brain got worked because now i'm entirely exhausted. in highschool (and well primary) i enjoyed all types of visual arts (i actually changed schools in yr 12 to have the opportunity to do so) and only completed one year of art in 1st year uni. at the time i found i wasnt enjoying it so much and had many a grumble about the unit chair. so i guess i havent really done a thing since. it was really enjoyable to get out there and do some more again. this class is run in a very casual and non-structured manner in order to cater to all levels. this frustrated the hell out of my friend but i found it quite pleasing and was able to approach the whole thing in an impartial manner.
i've often thought that the main problem with my uni art experience was actually more to do with my ego than anything else. i really want to be able to approach this new course as a beginner and try to take on board whatever i can to learn and extend myself. ..although it might be noted that this might not be entirely necessary and that if i wanted to ignore the teacher and any advice they have to give then i could clearly get away with it -as SOME members of the class have been doing for more than one term.
today we did still life with pastels. it was a basic construction of pears, a plate and a knife. i had an excellent time playing with all the different colours i could manage. and felt i really experimented with the limits that i could take it to.

tour de france

my squeeze has been watching the tour de france. now, i'm going to claim that i know anything at all about it but i'm learning a little and frankly i'm AMAZED. these people race lengths like 200+kms per day for three weeks. can you imagine how hard that would be? people have to train professionally -not just in the sense that they might get some financial reimbursement but they literally dont have any other time outside of training to earn a living - i would consume their entire lives. whoa! it is the/one of the hardest races in the world to compete in and people take it very seriously. there is this one guy that has a fracture in his spine and is STILL racing.
this is an interesting website. purely for the fact that it shows some of the competitors vitals (pulse, speed, cadence etc) live as it happens. you can see it on the telly, and it's happening on the internet too. (kinda like bigbrother)
it seems that despite how seriously these people are taking it all, there is still some sense of etiquette to do with what's appropriate and what's not. for example during the drink pick up section - noone will try to "make a break" and get ahead, it's just NOT done. the squeeze was also describing a situation where a whole paleton (pack of riders) all pulled over to take a piss. i dared ask "what do they do normally?" and he took some time to decide whether they would be pissing over the front handle bars or down between their legs. ewww!! what about all the licra?? that's totally gross.
and i'll leave you with that very pleasant thought.

slack

alright, so i havent been exactly the most loyal of bloggers lately. in fact i've been down right slack. after reading some other blogging-mad pal's work, i've decided that maybe i should get my feet wet.
what's been going on with me? not a whole lot of interest really. it feels like work work work lately. i'm working full time in a crappy job. you know the ones - where you work it and hate every second of it but you know that it will make going back to uni next year seem way more exciting. not 100% sure how i feel about my course at the moment but that's the plan so far.
i'm finding interesting ways to spend my money, and less interesting ways to save it. there have been some discussions of some kind of massive indulgent splurge at some stage within the next year when i've saved enough. but i'm not giving anythign away just yet.*
hmmm, i'm starting to run out of things to say again..
..well before i start rambling on about mundane things like skin regimes, i best be off (exfoliation is go!). hope all are well. i will TRY to blog again soon.


*i've got to create SOME anticipation, now dont i?

cant get it out of my head

just love this song at the moment. it's just pumping through my veins and makes me want to bust out right there and then (even if i'm standing in line in a busy shopping centre).
sidney bechet - bechets' fantasy!!

i love it. i love it. i love it.

*haha, well i actually got the name wrong if any of you actually went and looked up this song. it's called something else like "oh naughty, my sweetheart" or something to that affect. it's off the same albumn as "bachet's fantasy".

doors and windows

you know, they say: just as one door closes..

they might have something to do with glass ceilings..

but how complicated is a part time job meant to be any way??

i'm looking out for windows. lots and lots of windows. big, fat, open ones.

jobs and whatnot.

i had a job trial at a cafe last week. ..actually TWO. that's right 2.4hours of unpaid work. i also worked 3 hours on sunday and they are yet to discuss any terms(pay) with me. i'm finding rather frustrating.

what's the work like?
well, i havent really ever done any actually waitressing - and the stuff that i did do was a VERY long time ago (like highschool). so it's all pretty new to me really. i suck at carrying plates. i hate the bucket that the sponges get kept in (and the fact that i get stared at by my boss every time i wash my hands after dipping them in the mirky water). i was surprisingly nervous about dealing with customers and especially clearing empty plates - i had the distinct feeling that i was interrupting them. but soon got over that.

so i'll be there most sundays i guess. untill i find something better.

there goes my favourite day/morning of the week. long sleep in and long lazy cooked breakfast.

i'm also finding that my instincts about my age being an issue confirmed. if it's written on my resume you think they'd read it before dragging me out for an interview (after keeping me waiting for 35mins).

i also went to the doctor yesterday to get tested for celiac's disease. it's present on both sides of my family and those nasty (paralysing) stomach cramps followed by noisey wind is not something i want for much longer.
i had a rather surprisingly pleasant experience with the nurse and vowed never to return to a pathology lab ever again. so i'll find out in a couple of days if i have to let go of the mcuh loved GLUTEN.

Buffy

been undergoing a serious buffy binge lately. all of season 5. previously unseen by my eyes. i'm quite impressed. i'm in the zone a bit. i even had a dream in buffy style the other nite. i really like how each episode is nicely constructed with the same themes in mind despite the overall picture. and how the theme of each main plot is then reiterated by sub-plots and again by random imagery.
plus buffy kicks butt. she's a teeney weeney girl with a heart of gold and will kick yo ass. i REALLY like spike. and even unlikeable anyia (?) has grown on me a little.
i dont think i should get stuck into season 6 straight away just yet - it's all pretty full on. and i need to do something else for a while..

chockies

it's easter sunday everyone!!
my personal preferance is quality over qauntity and i think i've achieved that so far. right now i'm sitting on the couch with Smoothy sharing a chocolate bunny on a stick from Koko Black. i've been naming Haighs as my favourite brand for some time now (still getting through my supply from christmas) but this chockie is AMAZING. smooth and delicious. i know that their hot-chocolates are the best i've ever had - literally like a cup of liquid chocolate not watery, gluggy, or floury in the slightest. Smoothy seems to be happy with his score. and my Haighs Bilby will go down very nicely. YUM!

bike scene

a friend of mine was recently telling me this story about a bike scene that they are actively involved in. it seems that there are certain people whom are in a certain position of power and tend to act quite intimidating towards other people as a way of protecting their own status in the scene. they coined the term "fan-boy sydrome" where these people have loads of little teenage fans that look up to them and tell them how wonderful they are etc etc that after a while they start believing it and infact use these fans as a way of boosting up their egos. it's like they are addicted to the position of status and social power and will keep everyone else at as much of a distance as possible.
how shit is that?? that a scene can be built up of people whom are in such great need of that bolstering that they actually make it difficult for others to enjoy the scene as well. in such a small a unique niche it's a real shame because it only takes one or two assholes to fuck it up for everyone else - there isnt really alot of space to not have to deal with such people. it kinda ends up being like a "cant live with them, can't live wihtout them" type deal.
i spose thinking about there really wouldn't be anyone that is THAT bad - i mean come on we're all human. but what if this sort of syndrome were something much more subtle and inherent in the way that a scene were run?
i mean all sorts of human communities have social heirarchies/platforms/structures of status but they dont all need to end up running like some boys club ..do they??

i got thinking about the need for acceptance within the community that you are involved in. like on the question: 'does speaking up make you an outcast?'. this question is loaded with pre established ideals:
-i want to do what's right
-i dont want to be considered an 'outcast'
- i want to be accepted by my community.



...ok my train of thought has gone now and i have to leave for a baptism ceremony. so till next time, team..

short and sweet

hey guys i'm sorry i'm not going to post properly today but if you're desperate to find out what i'm up to i did write alittle bit on my other blog.

that's all from me for the moment folks. hope all is well.

xxC.

recipes

Smoothy has begun the long awaited food blog. including the infamous sri lankan curry. very tasty indeed. and the food's not bad too.

* haha!! i totally forgot to post the link. here ya go.

winter, flicks & ikea

daylight savings finished this weekend. and as if that wasnt bad enough last weekend we had a gorgeous 28 degree day to watch the road-race at 'da games ..and this weekend it's winter. not the start of autumn with a gentle chill settling in but it all smacked you at once. smacked us so hard - we were smacked right into the middle of winter ..in new york.
such dramatic weather changes call for dramatic lifestyle changes. no longer are sundays spent with long lazy breakfasts in your pj's and nice walks in the sun. but are now replaced with brisk breakfasts of porrige and rushes to the shower and wearing all the clothes i own ..all at once. too cold to be outside- off to the movies and ikea. i reminisced about swedish cultural invasions. about swedish food (meatballs & crisp bread) and swedish dinner parties.
i also dream about the prospects of re-furnishing my room with all the neat little gadgets and storage ideas that could improve my life dramatically.

>oh my god! it's not even 5 and it's almost dark. this is soo depressing.<

we watched aeon flux which was fantastic. for those of you who dont know it was originally an anime* about this a female assasin set in a futuristic world where the people are more like insects than actual people. my memories of the actual plot were extremely fague but the visuals stayed with me for a very long time and was my main motivation for see this film. i was not disapointed either. aeon was all sharp angles with whispy haircuts, pouty lips and pointy boobs. there were a few moments when the actress didnt look quite as graceful as would be hoped to pull off many of the unbelieveable stunts in this film (yes very cunning). i keep thinking of Alias and how she has to train three hours every day to be as fit as the character she's playing - another assasin.
so overall, i loved it. sci fi. female super hero. romance. life-as-we-know-it/all-of-humanity-is-relying-on-this type plot. costumes. sets. carefully chosen camera angles. what is there not to love? it's right up my alley.

also watched war of the worlds- which while had me hooked right in for the first half of the film with absolute terror - had the most stew-pid ending i've ever seen and proved to be highly disappointing. far too many simularities to other films that i had already seen like 28 Days Later(which was excellent) except they didnt manage to pull it off quite as well. it was pretty interesting how the most distressing scene for me in the film had nothing to do with the aliens but much more to do with the mass histeria and crazy behaviour from the people who were desperate for their lives. i can totally imagine that gun scene happening just the way it did in other chaotic realities like after a hurricane/tsunami/terrorist attack. i'm petrified of everyone else.

the final film was Sunshine of the Eternally Spotless Mind which was just beautiful. it's a film for anyone who has EVER been in love or been hurt. i loved it. Closer was another film about breakups but came out with a much different sentiment than this one and actually left you feeling better and with a "why bother?" type attitude. whereas this film was really nice the way it put emphasis on all the nice things about love and relationships. sure it can suck sometimes but overall it's got to be good otherwise why would you be there for so long? and god knows that there are times when i wish that i could forget some nasty things from my life but they are kinda there for a reason and it's slightly reassuring that it's okay to trust yourself in the moment(who i was back then) and not get all bitchy/pessimistic in hindsight.

today was also the first day that the heater has been used for the season - that's a bad sign. summer REALLY is over. i had soup for dinner last nite and lunch today and dont feel like eating all the normal foods. i hope i dont start getting super hungry all the time and put on heaps of weight like i normally do at the start of winter. fingers crossed.

it's kinda nice that although this end of the world is heading into the chilled-out months, the other side of the world (like london) is doing the exact opposite. no more grumpy londoners or snow storms. they've even started day light savings. crazy.


*i too, thought this was a spiny sea creature but it's also a japanese animation. i know cause i actually checked the spelling for this one.

unread newsletters

i'm just checking my email, cleaning out my junkmail box.. reading lovely updates from dear friends afar.
but there's a backlog. a backlog of newsletters that i havent read - nor do i think i will. infact i've enjoyed their absence from my life so much that i dont think i will ever invite them back.
sure they used to provide information about things i was interested in but more often than not they just make me feel shitty. so i'm stopping - that's it! no more.

wow, this is really liberating.

now that i think about it.. perhaps i should stop a few other related rituals? things that shit me. things that arent really neccessary in my life anymore. i'm certainly uninterested in contributing these days. and i only read about %5 of it these days anyway - that's practically nill.

excellent.

FITting it in

running is usually my fall back option when i have exhausted all other possible outlets for some exercise, it's generally not something that i would choose to do but with a severe lack of dancing in my life at the moment i was getting abi† desperate. monday nite i went for a jog and it was moderately nice - not fantastic and certainly not consistent for the whole half hour but it did the job.
tuesday i went to a class at the gym wi†h my mum called "strong to the core" which is (as you guessed it) basically all about abdominal workout stuff. it wasn't exactly beyond me but i sure was buggered afterwards. my mum said it took her 5 days to recover from her first one of those classes. it only took me 3-4 (it's only been minor pain in the last day or so) but i wasnt able to push our brand new recliners back with my fatigued torso and had to use the (rather handy) handle.
last nite i ran again and god it was GOOD. it felt really good. no stopping every half block to walk - i had made it two train stations up the line before i knew it. usually i tend to do a conservative circuit around my block (allowing a quick return home) - but last nite i just found myself so liberated by this new found ability that i just wanted to keep going and going and going.
so i've decided that i MUST harness this new power and use it as much as i can before i loose it. who's with me?
a treat: brand new shorts, socks, sports bra and sleek hair cut to match. woo hoo.