Some cool stuff happened on blogs recently:
My pretty sparkly wedding shoes were featured on Shoe Friday. They are sparkly!
I won a hockey tournament! Pretty sure that's what happened anyway. (That's not what happened, but other truly amazing things did.)
***
Some stuff happened in real life, too:
My dad came to visit me and we had lots of fun times. Including my baby brother's 18th. 18!
Six months ago I started dating some guy. And now six months later, we've been going out for six months! (And as a reward, I get to go see Disney On Ice later this year.)
***
Some sport was in there as well:
Safire came 7th at Nationals (which is brilliant!) and won the Your New Uniforms Are Awesome competition.
I went to a doctor about my heel that I injured in January. He was like ... so, you were busy for four months? Um, yes. Yes I was. (No diagnosis yet, scans this week.)
***
And uni happens even when I try to ignore it:
So far, I have been given a Pass, Credit, and Distinction. All I need now is a High Distinction and we've covered all the grades!
I have learned that people are annoying and make me feel the need to use CAPS at them, I need three or four days to write an essay, and I much prefer analysing books than business models.
***
All of these could have had their own posts, but I do not think that was likely to happen, and waiting for time to write one post would have just given more things time to be added to the list. Now I can tick ALL these things off the list!
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
I have some issues...
My main issue at this moment is my insane lack of unallocated time. Uni, work, frisbee - there is no free time in the world. Bitching time, however, oh there's plenty of that:
There's always one. I know this. There's always that one annoying person in your class, and you can't do anything about it, and you just have to suck it up. But seriously, this is ridiculous. The sheer irrelevance of everything she has to say is astounding. But what gets me is the arrogance of "helpfully" "clarifying" something the lecturer has said THAT WAS PERFECTLY CLEAR TO THE REST OF US ANYWAY OMG SHUT UP. Grr. Ok. I'll be over here, trying not to roll my eyes tooo hard.
Who decided that -785937537 degrees was a temperature at all conducive to study? Show me your research. I can disprove whatever you've got.
Slides. Something no lecturer is without. But can we just revisit the point of slides? If all you are going to do is read something that I have (printed and on a screen) right in front of me, I might as well have stayed home. Slides are for notes, lectures are for lecturing. I will of course complain about how much writing I have to do, but I would much rather be actively note-taking than having a nap. (Wait, that doesn't sound right...)
What happened to mandatory ten-minute breaks every hour?
And for that matter, although this is no-one's fault really, what's with finishing class on the hour? Flinders started on the hour and finished at ten to. Now UniSA starts at ten past and finishes on the hour. This is not a major problem, except for when I am sitting in class counting down the seconds, and the clock finally ticks over to ten to ... and I still have ten minutes to go. The longest ten minutes IN THE WHOLE WORLD EVER, let me assure you.
Uni is quite vexing, as it turns out.
There's always one. I know this. There's always that one annoying person in your class, and you can't do anything about it, and you just have to suck it up. But seriously, this is ridiculous. The sheer irrelevance of everything she has to say is astounding. But what gets me is the arrogance of "helpfully" "clarifying" something the lecturer has said THAT WAS PERFECTLY CLEAR TO THE REST OF US ANYWAY OMG SHUT UP. Grr. Ok. I'll be over here, trying not to roll my eyes tooo hard.
Who decided that -785937537 degrees was a temperature at all conducive to study? Show me your research. I can disprove whatever you've got.
Slides. Something no lecturer is without. But can we just revisit the point of slides? If all you are going to do is read something that I have (printed and on a screen) right in front of me, I might as well have stayed home. Slides are for notes, lectures are for lecturing. I will of course complain about how much writing I have to do, but I would much rather be actively note-taking than having a nap. (Wait, that doesn't sound right...)
What happened to mandatory ten-minute breaks every hour?
And for that matter, although this is no-one's fault really, what's with finishing class on the hour? Flinders started on the hour and finished at ten to. Now UniSA starts at ten past and finishes on the hour. This is not a major problem, except for when I am sitting in class counting down the seconds, and the clock finally ticks over to ten to ... and I still have ten minutes to go. The longest ten minutes IN THE WHOLE WORLD EVER, let me assure you.
Uni is quite vexing, as it turns out.
Monday, March 14, 2011
All I Needed Was Some Uni Work To Put Off
I am back at uni, a different uni this time, one not built on a hill. Not that that means less stairs, because every single one of my classes is on the third floor or above. I am doing a Masters course with a very long name, but if people ask what I'm studying I just say Library Management.
I'm taking four classes (which is standard, is it standard elsewhere?) and I managed to fit all of them onto one day. Which: yay for working the other full days, but also: 9am til 7pm with a one hour break. Yeah. The names of those four classes are pretty much just different variations in the order of the words 'management,' 'information,' and 'project.' Those words are also the basis for the drinking game I plan to play as I do my readings.
And jeez there are a lot of readings. I should be doing them in all the spare time that uni students have, but did I mention the working full time thing? That will start to slow down soon, and Nationals is only weeks away, so soon I will have a life. Right? Please?
I am enjoying uni, even if most of my classes fall under the "boring businessy stuff" category and not "exciting new library career path" one. All my essays are short, I only have one exam (worth 50%!) ("Shut up," says a certain little brother now at uni, but I can't hear him over the sound of his four 70% exams), and I get to design a mobile phone app. Learning - it's what all the cool kids are doing.
I'm taking four classes (which is standard, is it standard elsewhere?) and I managed to fit all of them onto one day. Which: yay for working the other full days, but also: 9am til 7pm with a one hour break. Yeah. The names of those four classes are pretty much just different variations in the order of the words 'management,' 'information,' and 'project.' Those words are also the basis for the drinking game I plan to play as I do my readings.
And jeez there are a lot of readings. I should be doing them in all the spare time that uni students have, but did I mention the working full time thing? That will start to slow down soon, and Nationals is only weeks away, so soon I will have a life. Right? Please?
I am enjoying uni, even if most of my classes fall under the "boring businessy stuff" category and not "exciting new library career path" one. All my essays are short, I only have one exam (worth 50%!) ("Shut up," says a certain little brother now at uni, but I can't hear him over the sound of his four 70% exams), and I get to design a mobile phone app. Learning - it's what all the cool kids are doing.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
What's this? There's colour everywhere...
Christmas!!!
***
I don't know how I went for so long without ever watching Nightmare Before Christmas, but it's awesome. I borrowed the soundtrack from my library today and am now listening to it on repeat, learning all the lyrics.
What's this?
There are children throwing snowballs
Instead of throwing heads
They're busy building toys
And absolutely no-one's dead
Turns out I should have worked a bit harder at learning the lyrics to certain extremely well-known carols. That or learning how to count backwards from twelve. Whatever, New Tradition: Carols By Candelight was a (very cold and windy) success!
***
I have worked in retail for a ridiculous number of years, and for at least the last THREE, I have had Christmas Eve off. This year I was scheduled to work, but in a Christmas miracle, got it off, so I could continue my Wishing Tree Present-Buying Tradition.
Which was slightly not as per tradition, as the Wishing Tree people had evidently decided that yes, we should make more decisions at Christmas, and forced us to pick our own girl/boy aged [blank]. SO HARD.
In the end, I sat down and wrote a number so I wouldn't continue wandering around, changing my mind every five steps, or worse, end up with a present for a five year old boy that he could share part of with his sixteen year old sister and also his grandma. Actually that sounds rather nice.
***
For Christmas I bought myself a new hair straightener, my housemates a vacuum, and books for everyone I know.
Oh! And a Christmas tree! A real one! The discovery that this is a real thing that you can do (as in, you can do it without having to fly to America/Europe/The North Pole) is still very exciting to me.
***
I saw Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia, at Marion while I was Christmas Eve traditioning. It's pretty cool that she just wanders around shopping centres having coffee (and posing for photos for ages. Seriously, I did all my 'maybe a three year old girl?' 'maybe a ten year old boy?' shopping while she was taking photos. That is a long time).
***
I visited my Grandma for Christmas Eve Carols and Mass. And SERIOUSLY, People In Charge Of My Traditions, WHY MUST YOU CHANGE THEM? 'Happy Christmas' is the exit song. Followed by 'We Wish You A Merry Christmas.' That is all. I expect the world to be back on its Christmas tradition axis by next year, thank you.
After our Christmas Treats With Grandma Tradition, we continued our Awesome Present Buying Tradition. This year's theme? Replacement jewelery. (Not sure if you can see that we're wearing matching necklaces, or that I'm wearing three. Not pictured: the ring I will get the next day.)
***
Christmas Day included a Not Quite As Good As The Real Thing, But Still Pretty Fun: Opening Presents Via Skype Tradition. Books! And more books!
***
Last year, at the Bay Sports Festival, I got the most ridiculous sunburn: a rectangle on my back with a zigzaggy top. So this year, I was careful about my back, which of course means I have a ring of sunburn around my belly-button, a line across the middle of my thigh, and a squiggle in the middle of my chest. It was a lovely day for playing frisbee (if you are the rest of the frisbee community) or lazing around at the beach watching frisbee (if you are me, and have a No Exercise In December Tradition to uphold).
***
And one more photo, because I missed posting about the SAFDAs and this awesome dress - which you can't really see - when they actually happened, and also I like this picture.
Merry Christmas, Everyone.
***
I don't know how I went for so long without ever watching Nightmare Before Christmas, but it's awesome. I borrowed the soundtrack from my library today and am now listening to it on repeat, learning all the lyrics.
What's this?
There are children throwing snowballs
Instead of throwing heads
They're busy building toys
And absolutely no-one's dead
Turns out I should have worked a bit harder at learning the lyrics to certain extremely well-known carols. That or learning how to count backwards from twelve. Whatever, New Tradition: Carols By Candelight was a (very cold and windy) success!
***
I have worked in retail for a ridiculous number of years, and for at least the last THREE, I have had Christmas Eve off. This year I was scheduled to work, but in a Christmas miracle, got it off, so I could continue my Wishing Tree Present-Buying Tradition.
Which was slightly not as per tradition, as the Wishing Tree people had evidently decided that yes, we should make more decisions at Christmas, and forced us to pick our own girl/boy aged [blank]. SO HARD.
In the end, I sat down and wrote a number so I wouldn't continue wandering around, changing my mind every five steps, or worse, end up with a present for a five year old boy that he could share part of with his sixteen year old sister and also his grandma. Actually that sounds rather nice.
***
For Christmas I bought myself a new hair straightener, my housemates a vacuum, and books for everyone I know.
Oh! And a Christmas tree! A real one! The discovery that this is a real thing that you can do (as in, you can do it without having to fly to America/Europe/The North Pole) is still very exciting to me.
***
I saw Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia, at Marion while I was Christmas Eve traditioning. It's pretty cool that she just wanders around shopping centres having coffee (and posing for photos for ages. Seriously, I did all my 'maybe a three year old girl?' 'maybe a ten year old boy?' shopping while she was taking photos. That is a long time).
***
I visited my Grandma for Christmas Eve Carols and Mass. And SERIOUSLY, People In Charge Of My Traditions, WHY MUST YOU CHANGE THEM? 'Happy Christmas' is the exit song. Followed by 'We Wish You A Merry Christmas.' That is all. I expect the world to be back on its Christmas tradition axis by next year, thank you.
After our Christmas Treats With Grandma Tradition, we continued our Awesome Present Buying Tradition. This year's theme? Replacement jewelery. (Not sure if you can see that we're wearing matching necklaces, or that I'm wearing three. Not pictured: the ring I will get the next day.)
***
Christmas Day included a Not Quite As Good As The Real Thing, But Still Pretty Fun: Opening Presents Via Skype Tradition. Books! And more books!
***
Last year, at the Bay Sports Festival, I got the most ridiculous sunburn: a rectangle on my back with a zigzaggy top. So this year, I was careful about my back, which of course means I have a ring of sunburn around my belly-button, a line across the middle of my thigh, and a squiggle in the middle of my chest. It was a lovely day for playing frisbee (if you are the rest of the frisbee community) or lazing around at the beach watching frisbee (if you are me, and have a No Exercise In December Tradition to uphold).
***
And one more photo, because I missed posting about the SAFDAs and this awesome dress - which you can't really see - when they actually happened, and also I like this picture.
Merry Christmas, Everyone.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Christmas Pageant!
When we were young, we would fly down to Adelaide for Christmas, and since we would always have missed the Pageant (which is held in November, way too early for school holidays to be on), Grandma would have taped it for us (on videotape!). Watching the video of the Christmas Pageant was one of our Adelaide Christmas traditions.
Then I moved to Adelaide, but between my liking for sleep-ins and the fact that I was working in retail, I never made it to the Pageant.
UNTIL NOW! The moment I've been waiting 25 years for finally arrived, and It. Was. Awesome.
Step One: Pancake breakfast! For extra fun, require that the pancakes be Christmas-themed!
Step Two (not shown on tv, for maximum suprise fun on the day): Draw on the road with chalk! Age is not a factor on Pageant Day!
Step Three: Find a good place from which to watch the Pageant. As you are walking the route and searching for the perfect spot, pretend you are in the Pageant.
Step Four: Enjoy the Pageant.
4.1 Realise that your dream of riding Nimble in the Pageant will probably never come true, despite your excellently thought-out plan of having the little girl currently riding him fall off just in front of where you are standing, and then being the one picked to replace her for the rest of the Pageant.
4.2 Realise that the clowns probably won't be coming all the way back there to high-five you; make do with police officers instead.
4.3 Enjoy making people smile by your energetic waving, and sincerely love the ones who are enjoying it as much as you are, especially the kid in the toy truck who was going crazy with the dancing and the waving and the thumbs up.
Step Five: Wave to Santa. Have Santa turn to wave to the other side of the street as he goes past you.
Have Santa turn back to you at the last possible second, and wave to you AND BLOW A KISS DIRECTLY TO YOU OMG that was so awesome. Pass out from the excitement of it all.
Then I moved to Adelaide, but between my liking for sleep-ins and the fact that I was working in retail, I never made it to the Pageant.
UNTIL NOW! The moment I've been waiting 25 years for finally arrived, and It. Was. Awesome.
Step One: Pancake breakfast! For extra fun, require that the pancakes be Christmas-themed!
Step Two (not shown on tv, for maximum suprise fun on the day): Draw on the road with chalk! Age is not a factor on Pageant Day!
Step Three: Find a good place from which to watch the Pageant. As you are walking the route and searching for the perfect spot, pretend you are in the Pageant.
Step Four: Enjoy the Pageant.
4.1 Realise that your dream of riding Nimble in the Pageant will probably never come true, despite your excellently thought-out plan of having the little girl currently riding him fall off just in front of where you are standing, and then being the one picked to replace her for the rest of the Pageant.
4.2 Realise that the clowns probably won't be coming all the way back there to high-five you; make do with police officers instead.
4.3 Enjoy making people smile by your energetic waving, and sincerely love the ones who are enjoying it as much as you are, especially the kid in the toy truck who was going crazy with the dancing and the waving and the thumbs up.
Step Five: Wave to Santa. Have Santa turn to wave to the other side of the street as he goes past you.
Have Santa turn back to you at the last possible second, and wave to you AND BLOW A KISS DIRECTLY TO YOU OMG that was so awesome. Pass out from the excitement of it all.
Friday, October 29, 2010
NaBloPoMo: October 2010, Day 29
Oh, look at that. We jumped straight from Day 16 to Day 29. It's like I don't even understand the concept of posting every single day.
Day 16, you may remember, was the one where I whined about the hardship that is going away for awesomely fun frisbee tournaments. So... about that.
OF COURSE Mixed Nats was heaps of fun. OF COURSE my team was great. OF COURSE I did some not great things, and some average things, and some amazing things. OF COURSE it was worth the trip.
I got all the major stats: a run-though D, an assist, a couple of goals. Oh and a turnover! I skyed a boy, occasionally got the timing of my cuts right, and I stopped my player touching the disc for a really long point.
OH AND! I realised my life-long dream of eating dessert first, when the buffet was temporarily out of mains. I was starving, and there were four kinds of cake to be eaten. Was else was I going to do?
Day 16, you may remember, was the one where I whined about the hardship that is going away for awesomely fun frisbee tournaments. So... about that.
OF COURSE Mixed Nats was heaps of fun. OF COURSE my team was great. OF COURSE I did some not great things, and some average things, and some amazing things. OF COURSE it was worth the trip.
I got all the major stats: a run-though D, an assist, a couple of goals. Oh and a turnover! I skyed a boy, occasionally got the timing of my cuts right, and I stopped my player touching the disc for a really long point.
OH AND! I realised my life-long dream of eating dessert first, when the buffet was temporarily out of mains. I was starving, and there were four kinds of cake to be eaten. Was else was I going to do?
Saturday, October 16, 2010
NaBloPoMo: October 2010, Day 16
I think I will be making a mistake going to Mixed Nats this year.
Not a terrible, horrible, going to ruin my life kind of mistake.
Just the fact that of two sets of circumstances, one would have been better, and I chose not that one.
Then I just kept going along and going along, and now we're less than a week out and it's really pretty much too late not to go. All there is to do is go and run around and have as much fun as possible and don't take it too seriously and make the best of an okay situation.
(Which is unfortunate, because if I decide to skip Nationals next year, because constantly going to frisbee tournaments costs money, I will be doing it backwards, going to Mixed Nats and skipping Nats instead of skipping Mixed Nats and going to Nationals. Silly girl.)
Not a terrible, horrible, going to ruin my life kind of mistake.
Just the fact that of two sets of circumstances, one would have been better, and I chose not that one.
Then I just kept going along and going along, and now we're less than a week out and it's really pretty much too late not to go. All there is to do is go and run around and have as much fun as possible and don't take it too seriously and make the best of an okay situation.
(Which is unfortunate, because if I decide to skip Nationals next year, because constantly going to frisbee tournaments costs money, I will be doing it backwards, going to Mixed Nats and skipping Nats instead of skipping Mixed Nats and going to Nationals. Silly girl.)
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
NaBloPoMo: October 2010, Day 13
I have some BIG NEWS. I have decided what I want to be when I grow up. Not only that, but I am taking steps to make it happen.
I have been accepted to uni! I will be studying a Master of Library and Information Services.
AND
I got a job! A casual job at a library, which will give me some library work experience to go with my new studies.
And you know what that means? (The second part of that, at least.) Battlestar Galactica Season Four! Oh yeah.*
*I told myself I couldn't get the fourth season til I got a "real job." This is not quite that, but since I have decided to study, a real/full-time job wasn't really a viable option anymore. That and I certainly wasn't waiting eighteen more months to watch it. STARBUCK!
I have been accepted to uni! I will be studying a Master of Library and Information Services.
AND
I got a job! A casual job at a library, which will give me some library work experience to go with my new studies.
And you know what that means? (The second part of that, at least.) Battlestar Galactica Season Four! Oh yeah.*
*I told myself I couldn't get the fourth season til I got a "real job." This is not quite that, but since I have decided to study, a real/full-time job wasn't really a viable option anymore. That and I certainly wasn't waiting eighteen more months to watch it. STARBUCK!
Monday, October 11, 2010
NaBloPoMo: October 2010, Day 11
1. I think making a team is a big deal, and that being asked/selected to represent a club/state/country is a big deal. The uniform you wear is important.
2. I know I said that playing on so many different teams is cool, but I was young and naive then. It's not really all that cool. A little more structure and club loyalty would be very welcome right about now.
3. There's kind of a contract involved when you sign up to play for a team. You're promising to come to trainings and get fit, and they're promising to hold trainings and SUPPLY YOU WITH A UNIFORM.
I think all three of these points combine to explain why I am beyond disappointed that I will not be getting my own uniform, with my own name and number on the back. (The fact that the number I will wear was my first choice of number (which I couldn't have had) maybe makes it worse.) This is going to ruin a year-old tradition.
2. I know I said that playing on so many different teams is cool, but I was young and naive then. It's not really all that cool. A little more structure and club loyalty would be very welcome right about now.
3. There's kind of a contract involved when you sign up to play for a team. You're promising to come to trainings and get fit, and they're promising to hold trainings and SUPPLY YOU WITH A UNIFORM.
I think all three of these points combine to explain why I am beyond disappointed that I will not be getting my own uniform, with my own name and number on the back. (The fact that the number I will wear was my first choice of number (which I couldn't have had) maybe makes it worse.) This is going to ruin a year-old tradition.
Saturday, October 09, 2010
NaBloPoMo: October 2010, Day 8
Alternate Title: It's Friday somewhere, right?
To promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month, someone - my best guess is someone who specialises in handbag B&E - has started a thing going on Facebook, whereby women are encouraged to change their status to [Whoever] likes it [wherever]. "It" refers to her handbag, but shh, don't tell anyone, cos it sounds like she likes having sex on the coffee table, on the end of the bed, wherever it's convenient, etc.
It's hilarious! Joke's on you, fellas! And what's more, it's raising awareness. Of ... women's favourite sexual positions? NO! Of Breast Cancer, obviously.
How about this, Facebook? The only way it's actually raising awareness of breast cancer is if it somehow (I'm thinking a hashtag, but I may be getting my social media confused) contains a reference to breasts, cancer, or awareness.
Otherwise, it's just an annoying (and very, very occasionally very, very briefly amusing) way to clutter up my Facebook news feed. Which should be kept for actually important things. Clearly.
To promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month, someone - my best guess is someone who specialises in handbag B&E - has started a thing going on Facebook, whereby women are encouraged to change their status to [Whoever] likes it [wherever]. "It" refers to her handbag, but shh, don't tell anyone, cos it sounds like she likes having sex on the coffee table, on the end of the bed, wherever it's convenient, etc.
It's hilarious! Joke's on you, fellas! And what's more, it's raising awareness. Of ... women's favourite sexual positions? NO! Of Breast Cancer, obviously.
How about this, Facebook? The only way it's actually raising awareness of breast cancer is if it somehow (I'm thinking a hashtag, but I may be getting my social media confused) contains a reference to breasts, cancer, or awareness.
Otherwise, it's just an annoying (and very, very occasionally very, very briefly amusing) way to clutter up my Facebook news feed. Which should be kept for actually important things. Clearly.
Thursday, October 07, 2010
NaBloPoMo: October 2010, Day 7
October, apparently, is now costume party month. (Possibly it's always been this way, what with Halloween occurring in it and all, and I just haven't noticed, since we never really 'did' Halloween when I was young, unless you count it being used as the theme for our Semester Two School Socials.)
I need to come up with three costumes, to which I am assigning a budget of, say, $1. Okay, $1 each.
Costume 1: Something starting with H. Horse, hermit crab, hadrosaurus. Hercules, the Hydra, Helen of Troy. Hornblower, Huckleberry Finn, Captain Hook. Hairy Maclary, Humpty Dumpty, Old Mother Hubbard. Hiro Nakamura, Howard Wolowitz, Han Solo. Or - with the benefit of ease (due to the low price of black material) if not too much originality - Harry Potter or Hermione Granger?
Costume 2: Something to do with GOLD. Princess Leia's gold bikini? Gold Bond-girl body paint? Wear a gold dress? Yellow toga that I already own?
Costume 3: Anything at all. This might appear attractive at first - you can go as whatever you want! - but really? TOO VAGUE.
I need to come up with three costumes, to which I am assigning a budget of, say, $1. Okay, $1 each.
Costume 1: Something starting with H. Horse, hermit crab, hadrosaurus. Hercules, the Hydra, Helen of Troy. Hornblower, Huckleberry Finn, Captain Hook. Hairy Maclary, Humpty Dumpty, Old Mother Hubbard. Hiro Nakamura, Howard Wolowitz, Han Solo. Or - with the benefit of ease (due to the low price of black material) if not too much originality - Harry Potter or Hermione Granger?
Costume 2: Something to do with GOLD. Princess Leia's gold bikini? Gold Bond-girl body paint? Wear a gold dress? Yellow toga that I already own?
Costume 3: Anything at all. This might appear attractive at first - you can go as whatever you want! - but really? TOO VAGUE.
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
NaBloPoMo: October 2010, Day 6
Also titled, Remembering Why Frisbee Is Fun
One of my teams this season is called the Menagerie. This is awesome for an as yet undetermined number of reasons, but we'll start a list and see what happens, and also it's almost midnight, so I'm cutting this pretty close.
1. It's kind of funny hearing other team captains' pronunciation of "menagerie." Sometimes it comes out very French and these are my favourite times.
2. Each week we pick a different animal to be. We've had moose, weevils, wildebeest, Aragog, and some others that I can't remember at ten to midnight. Today we were the Giraffes.
3. We have very fun girls on our team, so while the boys are off talking tactics, we are discussing the characteristics of our animal and how they apply to frisbee, and deciding what sound our animal makes, and developing animal-specific high fives. We have to do everything.
Also sometimes we get Vili's (24-hour bakery) afterwards. Yay Menagerie!
One of my teams this season is called the Menagerie. This is awesome for an as yet undetermined number of reasons, but we'll start a list and see what happens, and also it's almost midnight, so I'm cutting this pretty close.
1. It's kind of funny hearing other team captains' pronunciation of "menagerie." Sometimes it comes out very French and these are my favourite times.
2. Each week we pick a different animal to be. We've had moose, weevils, wildebeest, Aragog, and some others that I can't remember at ten to midnight. Today we were the Giraffes.
3. We have very fun girls on our team, so while the boys are off talking tactics, we are discussing the characteristics of our animal and how they apply to frisbee, and deciding what sound our animal makes, and developing animal-specific high fives. We have to do everything.
Also sometimes we get Vili's (24-hour bakery) afterwards. Yay Menagerie!
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
NaBloPoMo: October 2010, Day 5
Shows That Are Awesome: Fringe.
Part One in a series, no doubt, because I am bad at finding things to talk about.
Fringe is an awesome show. You should watch it. I don't want to say it's like The X-Files, because that sounds too dorky, and also I never really watched too much of The X-Files. But regardless, perfectly "explainable" "scientific" occurrences occur, and the Fringe team is sent to investigate. That's what it's about. As for why you should you watch it, there are three reasons:
1. Joshua Jackson. My childhood crush from The Mighty Ducks. Frequently the only good part of Dawson's Creek. I really shouldn't need to provide any more incentive.
2. John Noble as Walter Bishop. Dude is amazing as the confused, brilliant Dr Walter Bishop, and is being awesome some more this season as Walternate.
3. Anna Torv. Did you know she's Australian? Me neither. Her boring-at-first-glance FBI character Olivia is seriously amazingly acted. This season, Anna Torv is essentially playing four different characters:
- Olivia
- Alternate Universe Olivia
- Alternate Universe Olivia pretending to be Olivia
- Olivia with the memories of Alternate Universe Olivia.
I don't usually care about how nuanced a performance is, I watch television purely for the entertainment factor, but seriously, the subtle differences she's playing here are so impressive.
Oh yeah, and she has gorgeously long hair, which is pretty much all a character needs for me to love her.
Part One in a series, no doubt, because I am bad at finding things to talk about.
Fringe is an awesome show. You should watch it. I don't want to say it's like The X-Files, because that sounds too dorky, and also I never really watched too much of The X-Files. But regardless, perfectly "explainable" "scientific" occurrences occur, and the Fringe team is sent to investigate. That's what it's about. As for why you should you watch it, there are three reasons:
1. Joshua Jackson. My childhood crush from The Mighty Ducks. Frequently the only good part of Dawson's Creek. I really shouldn't need to provide any more incentive.
2. John Noble as Walter Bishop. Dude is amazing as the confused, brilliant Dr Walter Bishop, and is being awesome some more this season as Walternate.
3. Anna Torv. Did you know she's Australian? Me neither. Her boring-at-first-glance FBI character Olivia is seriously amazingly acted. This season, Anna Torv is essentially playing four different characters:
- Olivia
- Alternate Universe Olivia
- Alternate Universe Olivia pretending to be Olivia
- Olivia with the memories of Alternate Universe Olivia.
I don't usually care about how nuanced a performance is, I watch television purely for the entertainment factor, but seriously, the subtle differences she's playing here are so impressive.
Oh yeah, and she has gorgeously long hair, which is pretty much all a character needs for me to love her.
Monday, October 04, 2010
NaBloPoMo: October 2010, Day 4
I am not adventurous with my hair. I like it long. (It's easier to feel like a princess with long hair.) Every now and then I'll get a bigger trim than usual and freak out about how "short" it is. Last summer I got a fairly massive cut, to somewhere near my shoulders.
I immediately started growing it out.
Not that I didn't like it short, cos I did. I wasn't a fan of the inbetween stages, but hey, that's what ponytails are for. I finally feel like it's something approaching long. Yay! Anyway, I was due for a trim and decided to do something crazy - for me, anyway.
It has never looked that since, but I still like it. Now the rest of it just needs to grow another 10-15 centimeters and I'll be happy!
I immediately started growing it out.
Not that I didn't like it short, cos I did. I wasn't a fan of the inbetween stages, but hey, that's what ponytails are for. I finally feel like it's something approaching long. Yay! Anyway, I was due for a trim and decided to do something crazy - for me, anyway.
It has never looked that since, but I still like it. Now the rest of it just needs to grow another 10-15 centimeters and I'll be happy!
Sunday, October 03, 2010
NaBloPoMo: October 2010, Day 3
This marks the first weekend in many many months where I have been able to:
1*. not have my heater on at night
2. open up all the windows and doors during the day
3. hang my washing up outside and expect it to dry before it got rained on
4. sit outside reading a book, become engrossed in the book, forget the time, and end up with ridiculous-looking sunburn lines.
Good times.
I really really don't like winter. It depresses me. Not like I actually suffer from depression, but it makes me less inclined to go outside, play sport, go shopping or to the beach, spend time with other people if it involves me leaving the warmth and comfort of my house, etc. I am a boring, sooky person in winter (but I do get caught up on my books and tv shows).
Every year I throw up my hands and say I'm moving, and one day it will not be a joke. I can not handle this cold-weather shit for the rest of my life. I am (pale-ass skin notwithstanding) a shorts and singlet, out in the sunshine, no need to grab a jacket kind of person.
Daylight Savings started today, and I am taking that and the getting-to-awesome weather we've had so far this weekend as a sign that summer is on its way, and I can be happy again. Yay for the sun!
*Shut up. It's a tradition.
1*. not have my heater on at night
2. open up all the windows and doors during the day
3. hang my washing up outside and expect it to dry before it got rained on
4. sit outside reading a book, become engrossed in the book, forget the time, and end up with ridiculous-looking sunburn lines.
Good times.
I really really don't like winter. It depresses me. Not like I actually suffer from depression, but it makes me less inclined to go outside, play sport, go shopping or to the beach, spend time with other people if it involves me leaving the warmth and comfort of my house, etc. I am a boring, sooky person in winter (but I do get caught up on my books and tv shows).
Every year I throw up my hands and say I'm moving, and one day it will not be a joke. I can not handle this cold-weather shit for the rest of my life. I am (pale-ass skin notwithstanding) a shorts and singlet, out in the sunshine, no need to grab a jacket kind of person.
Daylight Savings started today, and I am taking that and the getting-to-awesome weather we've had so far this weekend as a sign that summer is on its way, and I can be happy again. Yay for the sun!
*Shut up. It's a tradition.
Saturday, October 02, 2010
NaBloPoMo: October 2010, Day 2
I was going to say something about this being a struggle already, which led me to (what has just now become) the topic of today's post: words and phrases that annoy me.
Definitely on the list*: Struggletown. Maybe this is because it is chiefly used on Facebook to indicate someone who should be working on their essay but is instead on the internet whinging about hard it all is for them (Struggletown always has a population of one). Most people on Facebook are procrastinating to some extent and I fail to see how any of them can claim to be the only citizen of Struggletown (ick).
Next: Epic. Win. Fail. They all go together, and I especially hate the former being used in conjunction with either of the latter two. Epic (like awesome and literally) is ridiculously (a) overused (b) incorrectly. Epic should conjure up epicness, and instead it somehow equals, to my mind, nerds and their computer games. Fail I dislike because the situation indicated is rarely an actual fail - how many things are unsalvageable fails? Not many. Don't be so negative! Which of course leaves me with win, which is hardly negative, but I have to return to my nerd point, that is to say, point about nerds. Yes, nerds are taking over the world, but it doesn't mean we all have to speak in their monosyllabic sentences.
And finally, any word that can be used to fill in the blank in this sentence: "You're such a [retard, jerk, loser, etc]." Don't say retard! Don't call names! Don't put people down!
*Hee! Lists! Again!
Definitely on the list*: Struggletown. Maybe this is because it is chiefly used on Facebook to indicate someone who should be working on their essay but is instead on the internet whinging about hard it all is for them (Struggletown always has a population of one). Most people on Facebook are procrastinating to some extent and I fail to see how any of them can claim to be the only citizen of Struggletown (ick).
Next: Epic. Win. Fail. They all go together, and I especially hate the former being used in conjunction with either of the latter two. Epic (like awesome and literally) is ridiculously (a) overused (b) incorrectly. Epic should conjure up epicness, and instead it somehow equals, to my mind, nerds and their computer games. Fail I dislike because the situation indicated is rarely an actual fail - how many things are unsalvageable fails? Not many. Don't be so negative! Which of course leaves me with win, which is hardly negative, but I have to return to my nerd point, that is to say, point about nerds. Yes, nerds are taking over the world, but it doesn't mean we all have to speak in their monosyllabic sentences.
And finally, any word that can be used to fill in the blank in this sentence: "You're such a [retard, jerk, loser, etc]." Don't say retard! Don't call names! Don't put people down!
*Hee! Lists! Again!
Friday, October 01, 2010
NaBloPoMo: October 2010, Day 1
Me: NaBloPoMo, where the object is to post every single day.
Everyone In The World: HAHAHAHAHA. HAAAAA!
Anyway.
The theme is PLAY.
I play Ultimate Frisbee. I am going to Mixed Nats to play lots of frisbee in less than three weeks. I am ... less than keen to go. How bad is that?! Let's try and figure out why I feel like this, okay? Okay.
1)* I was planning a road trip to the tournament with my best work friends. This has been cancelled and now I have to fly on a boring old aeroplane instead of cruising around to every country bakery from here to Bathurst.
2) My awesome fun Pillow Fight team is not going, and now I have to play with stupid successful Smurf, who were nice enough to ask me to play with them and I should be grateful for the opportunity.
3) My best frisbee friends aren't going and I will have no friends (on three whole teams of SA people).
4) (a) We have not trained as a team and
4) (b) I haven't trained by myself meaning
4) (c) I will mess up the plays and
4) (c) I am not fit at all and
4) (d) I've lost all my sprintyness.
(And also I (e) suck on defense, which is now, you know, my job.) I don't want to suck! I am supposed to be a Player To Watch!
On the other hand, there's only three weeks to go. Too late now! No point worrying! Let's just go and have some fun! Yeah? Maybe.
GO SMURF!!!
*Lists! And it's only Day 1!
Everyone In The World: HAHAHAHAHA. HAAAAA!
Anyway.
The theme is PLAY.
I play Ultimate Frisbee. I am going to Mixed Nats to play lots of frisbee in less than three weeks. I am ... less than keen to go. How bad is that?! Let's try and figure out why I feel like this, okay? Okay.
1)* I was planning a road trip to the tournament with my best work friends. This has been cancelled and now I have to fly on a boring old aeroplane instead of cruising around to every country bakery from here to Bathurst.
2) My awesome fun Pillow Fight team is not going, and now I have to play with stupid successful Smurf, who were nice enough to ask me to play with them and I should be grateful for the opportunity.
3) My best frisbee friends aren't going and I will have no friends (on three whole teams of SA people).
4) (a) We have not trained as a team and
4) (b) I haven't trained by myself meaning
4) (c) I will mess up the plays and
4) (c) I am not fit at all and
4) (d) I've lost all my sprintyness.
(And also I (e) suck on defense, which is now, you know, my job.) I don't want to suck! I am supposed to be a Player To Watch!
On the other hand, there's only three weeks to go. Too late now! No point worrying! Let's just go and have some fun! Yeah? Maybe.
GO SMURF!!!
*Lists! And it's only Day 1!
Thursday, September 09, 2010
Stolen
Today at work my housemate called to say we had been broken into. It looked like nothing had been taken but I should check when I got home.
I checked. Something had been taken. All my jewelery.
A couple of Christmases ago, Skywalker bought me a lovely silver jewelery box. I kept it in a shelf with other 'looking pretty' stuff - hair clips and ribbons and costume jewelery. The jewelery box was there, but open, and empty. (The stuff I had lying around on my dresser was untouched. And it was Tiffany, too. Idiot thieves.)
None of it was very expensive. Although the pendant and matching ring my Grandma gave me for my 18th wouldn't have been exactly cheap, it wasn't that expensive and it was the most valuable of the lot. But I started making a list for the cops, and everything item on the list, instead of starting with 'gold' or 'sapphire' began with the occasion or person connected to it: "18th" "Confirmation" "Gma/Winky".
When my Grandmother died, she passed on a pearl necklace to my dad. He gave it a friend of the family (after whom I was named), and when she died, she gave it back to him. When I got it, there was a note, all yellowed and creased, saying she felt she'd only been holding it for him for me.
I don't wear it that much; it's pretty but fairly old-fashioned looking. But I wore it for my birthday this year. I'm wearing it in that photo, although you can't see it very well. (Yeah, turns out all the times I'm photographed wearing my jewelery, the photos are of me, not my neck or fingers or wrists. Shocking, I know.) When I got home that night, I took it off, carefully placed it in its box, and teared up as I read the note. If only I had been a bit sloppier, tossed it down, carelessly left it on the dresser, I would probably still have it.
I called my dad straight away. To tell him what had happened, so someone would give me a hug, even if it was from across the country. But the real reason was to say: I'm sorry, Dad and Winky and Grandma V. You all kept it for me and I didn't manage to keep it safe, but I tried.
And now some loser who didn't even know to wear gloves when breaking and entering has my memories, and is probably giving them to his crackwhore of a girlfriend as we speak. Happy Important Family Mementos Day, fucker.
I checked. Something had been taken. All my jewelery.
A couple of Christmases ago, Skywalker bought me a lovely silver jewelery box. I kept it in a shelf with other 'looking pretty' stuff - hair clips and ribbons and costume jewelery. The jewelery box was there, but open, and empty. (The stuff I had lying around on my dresser was untouched. And it was Tiffany, too. Idiot thieves.)
None of it was very expensive. Although the pendant and matching ring my Grandma gave me for my 18th wouldn't have been exactly cheap, it wasn't that expensive and it was the most valuable of the lot. But I started making a list for the cops, and everything item on the list, instead of starting with 'gold' or 'sapphire' began with the occasion or person connected to it: "18th" "Confirmation" "Gma/Winky".
When my Grandmother died, she passed on a pearl necklace to my dad. He gave it a friend of the family (after whom I was named), and when she died, she gave it back to him. When I got it, there was a note, all yellowed and creased, saying she felt she'd only been holding it for him for me.
I don't wear it that much; it's pretty but fairly old-fashioned looking. But I wore it for my birthday this year. I'm wearing it in that photo, although you can't see it very well. (Yeah, turns out all the times I'm photographed wearing my jewelery, the photos are of me, not my neck or fingers or wrists. Shocking, I know.) When I got home that night, I took it off, carefully placed it in its box, and teared up as I read the note. If only I had been a bit sloppier, tossed it down, carelessly left it on the dresser, I would probably still have it.
I called my dad straight away. To tell him what had happened, so someone would give me a hug, even if it was from across the country. But the real reason was to say: I'm sorry, Dad and Winky and Grandma V. You all kept it for me and I didn't manage to keep it safe, but I tried.
And now some loser who didn't even know to wear gloves when breaking and entering has my memories, and is probably giving them to his crackwhore of a girlfriend as we speak. Happy Important Family Mementos Day, fucker.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Eating And Driving
This visit from the boys was a little different to our past ones. No big trips were scheduled - no Great Ocean Road or Odyssey Trip. No old favourites were automatically pencilled in - probably due to the mere six month gap between this and the last visit.
Instead we had zero plans, unless they were of the Last Minute or What Should We Do Tomorrow? or That Sounds Cool variety. This resulted in what shall be known as the Holiday Of Eating And Driving.
We ate at bakeries, pubs, pancake houses, all-you-can-eat diners. We drove north (to a wheelchair basketball game that just finished), south (to the Fruchocs factory, where we proceeded to add imperfect chocolates to our menu), east (to Hahndorf, home of bakery, pub, and elusive doughnut place), and ... actually we didn't drive west, as that's the beach, and this is winter.
It was the holiday of frisbee, BSG, card games, and books. And for the old guys it was the holiday of woodturning.
It was pretty awesome, as always.
Instead we had zero plans, unless they were of the Last Minute or What Should We Do Tomorrow? or That Sounds Cool variety. This resulted in what shall be known as the Holiday Of Eating And Driving.
We ate at bakeries, pubs, pancake houses, all-you-can-eat diners. We drove north (to a wheelchair basketball game that just finished), south (to the Fruchocs factory, where we proceeded to add imperfect chocolates to our menu), east (to Hahndorf, home of bakery, pub, and elusive doughnut place), and ... actually we didn't drive west, as that's the beach, and this is winter.
It was the holiday of frisbee, BSG, card games, and books. And for the old guys it was the holiday of woodturning.
It was pretty awesome, as always.
Friday, July 09, 2010
Which is more fascinating? A frisbee blog or a knitting blog?
It is winter here in Australia, the alleged land of eternal sunshine and hot weather. IT'S A LIE, I TELL YOU. Not the winter part, the sunshine part. The winter part is very very true right now, and very very cold.
The other thing that's happening right now is that frisbee is taking a little holiday. It's flown off to play in the sunshine (and lightning storms, so I hear) of Prague. Go Smurf!* This is awesome for me, because it means I get a whole month off** in which to eat, do zero exercise, and get massively fat and lazy.
*And Pie Wagon and Kaboom! And u19s and u23s, coming soon to a Germany and Italy near you.
**Actually, it has come to my attention that I have to go back toschool frisbee next Monday. Robbed!
So I find myself in need of a project. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to tackle something I've never done before, which results in a very tangible way to measure how good I am (or not) at said new skill. Two bad ideas that taste awesome together.
I have decided to knit a scarf.
I found the address of a knitting shop, went in and told the woman what I wanted to do. She presented me with all kinds of options - for designs, for patterns, for wool - all of which were met with a vague "Um, yes? I don't really know. I guess so?" Once she cottoned on (that's not really a knitting pun) to the fact that I had less than no clue about all this stuff, she made a decision on the pattern, told me which section of wools I should be looking at, and left me to pick a colour that took my fancy.
I chose a purple mixed with black, paid for it all (I would never really pay $30 for a scarf), and that's how I ended up sitting in Adelaide airport with my dad and my brother (Skywalker was surprisingly good at following the pattern instructions, by the way) trying to figure out which exact piece of wool I was supposed to put the needle under and then around? Or though there? Oh well, that'll do! (In case it's not obvious, I would welcome any help the internet has to offer!)
I think my stilted efforts were causing pain to the lady sitting across from us, but she came over and whipped off a couple of stitches and flipped it around and got me going again - all at a supersonic speed - without laughing or crying, so all was well.
Yesterday I decided to figure out this casting off business, so I am now the proud owner of ... maybe a wristband? A remote control rest? An unassembled scrunchie? Plus I have started on the official scarf, which is currently about as long as my practice piece.
I feel like a month may not have been enough time for this project.
The other thing that's happening right now is that frisbee is taking a little holiday. It's flown off to play in the sunshine (and lightning storms, so I hear) of Prague. Go Smurf!* This is awesome for me, because it means I get a whole month off** in which to eat, do zero exercise, and get massively fat and lazy.
*And Pie Wagon and Kaboom! And u19s and u23s, coming soon to a Germany and Italy near you.
**Actually, it has come to my attention that I have to go back to
So I find myself in need of a project. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to tackle something I've never done before, which results in a very tangible way to measure how good I am (or not) at said new skill. Two bad ideas that taste awesome together.
I have decided to knit a scarf.
I found the address of a knitting shop, went in and told the woman what I wanted to do. She presented me with all kinds of options - for designs, for patterns, for wool - all of which were met with a vague "Um, yes? I don't really know. I guess so?" Once she cottoned on (that's not really a knitting pun) to the fact that I had less than no clue about all this stuff, she made a decision on the pattern, told me which section of wools I should be looking at, and left me to pick a colour that took my fancy.
I chose a purple mixed with black, paid for it all (I would never really pay $30 for a scarf), and that's how I ended up sitting in Adelaide airport with my dad and my brother (Skywalker was surprisingly good at following the pattern instructions, by the way) trying to figure out which exact piece of wool I was supposed to put the needle under and then around? Or though there? Oh well, that'll do! (In case it's not obvious, I would welcome any help the internet has to offer!)
I think my stilted efforts were causing pain to the lady sitting across from us, but she came over and whipped off a couple of stitches and flipped it around and got me going again - all at a supersonic speed - without laughing or crying, so all was well.
Yesterday I decided to figure out this casting off business, so I am now the proud owner of ... maybe a wristband? A remote control rest? An unassembled scrunchie? Plus I have started on the official scarf, which is currently about as long as my practice piece.
I feel like a month may not have been enough time for this project.
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