lemona_pie

Resolutions for the coming year:

1. Do all the units necessary to graduate at the end of this year with a double major.
2. Maintain a distinction average.
3. Compete in a solo triathlon.
4. Get my clarinet repaired and take lessons again.
5. Be the best bridesmaid I can be.
6. Get fitter and be happier with my appearance.
7. Make better meals.
8. Spend more time with friends and socialise more.
9. Take a road trip.
10. Buy a unit/townhouse, get my kitty, have my own garden.

Deep fried crack. No, really. Aside from the vidder's wank about how this is really about modern images of behaviour / cultural zeitgeists / wank wank wank, this is a beautifully edited and plotted vid. With Buffy taking on Edward. Yay! Plus, it really showcases all the creepy, abusive behaviour that takes place in Twilight (and is my one big problem with the books - aside from the need for a really good editor).

There are no words.

I admit: I'm a Twilight junkie. I'm not quite at the level of the TwiMoms - hello, scary - (and how on earth did they get in The Australian Magazine this past weekend?) but I am on my third re-read of the series and I went to the midnight screening of New Moon on Wednesday night, despite it ending at 2:30am and me needing to get up for rowing at 4:15am.

Cue mass de-friending.

Gotta say: it was pretty cheesy and Jacob is jailbait, but it was ridiculously enjoyable. Kinda like the books in that respect. Dakota Fanning was wasted, Taylor Lautner can actually act, and gosh those books don't have a lot of plot, do they?

Here's a review that I think does the best job I've seen so far of explaining why the film is so likeable, despite being really fairly ordinary:
www.movieline.com/2009/11/in-theaters-the-twilight-saga-new-moon.php

Notably, check out this description of why the existential crisis in Twilight isn't so horrifying and, well, existential as it could be (or, as other vampires - Angel, Spike, etc. - have shown it to be):

I just made a mortgage payment and am feeling terribly poor, especially since interest eats up almost all of what I put in each month. *sigh*

Now I'm daydreaming of what I would spend a lottery win on - not even a massive win, just $10,000. My list so far is:

1. Buy air tickets for trip to France ($2k)
2. Shopping spree! ($1k)
3. Rainy day savings ($3k)*
4. Mortgage payment top-up ($4k - approx. equivalent of 2.5 mths payments)

It's a decent list, I think. Enough fun stuff to enjoy straight away (new clothes! Hurrah!) and some sensible stuff that will keep my mother off my case. **

* "Rainy days" include: need for new car; new furniture; uni fees, etc. Some fun stuff, some boring stuff.
** This list would go completely to heck if I won a big amount - $100,000 or more. Because then I would quit my job, travel for a couple of months, then do sensible stuff.

So, what would you do if you won the lotto?

I am super bored. I'm stuck at work for another two hours. Pretty much all I've done today is chase paperwork. Want to go home.

My elder brother is getting married this Saturday. I'm not a bridesmaid this time, but I don't mind. I've been a bridesmaid now - it's not the best thing ever. Although it is lovely to know how important you are to the people you love.

Here's what I need to achieve by Saturday morning:
1. Find bracelets to match pretty dress for wedding.
2. Dye hair so it doesn't clash with dress (my hair has some red in it, dress is orange).
3. Give self manicure.
4. Clean and vacuum car - even my mum has been teasing me about the state of my car. It's covered in dog hair, soil from pots (from moving house), random pairs of shoes. Apparently it's "an eyesore". The bit I sit in is nice and clean, so I don't really notice most of the time. :P

Here's what I need to achieve Sunday:
1. Study for HR exam.
2. Watch Bones and Castle.


Have a poem:

Sat my Strategic Management exam last night (who schedules an exam for 6pm? It's just not right). I did a lot better than I thought I would.

Of course, at 2pm I was freaking out, thinking I was going to fail.

(Studying: big help.)

I am officially done studying for my exam tonight. I have not done as much as I should have, but the glass of wine I had with lunch has helped convince me that I'm not going to learn anything else.

So, I'm going to do some memes. Just because.


Ironically, I don't play the bass. Unironically (?), I've spent the last couple of years planning to buy one. *headdesk*

I downloaded some awesome freeware called Q10 (www.baara.com/q10/). It's a full page writing software and it is awesome. I'm not generally fond of full-screen programs (with the exception of watching the Gube on YouTube), but having a large, black screen with a blinking cursor being all you can see (there are some Live statistics, like word count at the bottom of the screen, but I don't really pay attention to them, as they are quite small) is really conducive to writing.

The real selling point, though, and the reason I downloaded this program at all, is that it sounds like you're typing! Not quite the sound of my old manual typewriter, whichever grave that beloved piece of machinery is currently in, but it's such a satisfying sound.

At this rate, given how excited I am about typing, I might be posting actual, honest-to-goodness short stories this summer. For the first time in years.

Unfortunately, I still need to get over the hump of my exams. My Strategic Management exam is on Tuesday. I've already got 50% for the unit, so I cannot fail at this point, which is not helping my motivation to study at all. The fact that the subject is as dry as dust doesn't help either.

Back to the grindstone, I guess.

I went to see Gomez at the Fly on Sunday night.

Gomez have been one of my Top Five bands ever since Robbie Buck played "78 Stone Wobble" on Triple J way back in 1998. I've seen them live (I'd need to count t-shirts to be sure) probably 7 or 8 times, with a wide variety of people.

Sadly, my love for the Mez has waxed and waned over the years, largely in correlation to the strength of their albums - the last couple have been patchy.

Thankfully, their latest effort is great, a real return to form. And happily, their live show is energised as well. Hurrah! It wasn't quite the religious experience that seeing them live back when they toured Bring It On or Liquid Skin, but it was a great night, lots of banter, great songs, and I was standing in front of the mixing desk, so no sound problems :D

Who has some good tips for:

1. keeping cats off the counters?
2. keeping cats out of pot plants?

tangawarrior I'm so sorry, but Ms Kitty has dug up the pretty cutting you gave me for my housewarming - copious amounts of Thrive haven't helped the situation - I think it's going the way of the dodo. As, it seems, are the rest of my plants.

I'm going to City Farmers this weekend to get another litter tray, into which I am going to plant some sods of grass, with the hope that this will stop Ms Kitty eating all my gorram plants.

Honestly, any tips appreciated.
 

Wow, today is really dragging. Aside from the usual Mondayitis, today is especially bad as the other admin girl (we share the phones) has her rostered day off today, so I haven't been able to leave the office all day.

Not that I really want to go outside today: it's humid and grey. My hair is making the most of the humidity. I combed it straight this morning. I still look startlingly like Kim Day Knight. *headdesk*

There are 15-20 knot winds today, so the river's as rough as guts. We didn't take the boat out - even the really dedicated people turned back after 200m - so we did a massive ergo (pain machine) workout.

Now I'm back home. So sore. So hungry. Just ate Second Breakfast and I'm feeling a little like a hobbit. I might have to eat mid-morning tea, then elevenses.

Managed to get some blisters on my hands, too, which actually makes a nice change from having blistered feet.

Took Ms Kitty on her harness around the yard - she's not enamoured of the harness, but it does make it easier to get her back inside. Of course, now she's whining to go out again - she wants to catch her some birds.

I hate group assignments. Usually it's because I'm with a group of over-achievers who don't gel so well with my "start it the week before it's due" vibe and guilt-trip me with the amount of work they do.

This time, it's because out of a group of four, only myself and one other person (Rach) have actually done any work. Worse than that, #3 provided us with 900 poorly-written, fairly nonsensical words on the wrong topic and #4 wrote several abusive emails and texts (upon being reminded to submit his section) and finally submitted 400 words - obviously completely made up, without any references, and with real bad grace. And all this has happened since Monday evening. The 2500 word report is due today.

I don't usually mind if someone misses one group meeting, but when two pepole attend (and organise) every meeting and they are the only ones that show up, it's annoying. Especially if you drive 45 mins to the meeting place only to get texts saying "can't make it". Or worse, not receiving any texts and sitting like lumps waiting for an hour.

More than that, I don't understand why I (as the recipient of the abusive emails and texts) should (a) be spoken to like that, (b) deserve any of that treatment, or (c) be expected to cop it sweet. It's all well and good getting on your high horse - just make sure you've got a horse first.

A bunch of people at work (I was upset over a particularly pointed email) think I should email the lecturer, let me know what has happened. Rach thinks we should write down that #3 came to one meeting (out of four) and #4 came to none, print out the emails and texts, and submit it as an appendix to our report.

Comments on that course of action welcome.

Okay, rant over.

In other news: Ms Kitty is severely hampering my ability to type, by altnately lying on my arms or on the keyboard. Silly kitty.

Have a poll:

Poll #1471882
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 2

Should I dye my hair red?

What are you doing this weekend?

Have you got a song stuck in your head?

0n Saturday I went down to Mandurah to pick up my new kitty - a little Ragdoll. She is pretty much the cutest thing you ever saw. Even though she likes to get her toys stuck in little gaps and come meow at me until I get them out. And stand on my keyboard. And break little pieces off my plants. And get in bed with me early in the morning and be all fluffy and ticklish on my feet.

Other than that: adorable.

In other news: I have a group presentation to do tonight. I was supposed to email the other members of my group some notes about what I'll be talking about, but they haven't either, so whatever.

So, obviously that's going to go well. It's hard when you're put into groups and you don't particularly like each other.

Sharing is Caring
For one week, recommend/share:
Day one: a song
Day two: a picture
Day three: a book/ebook/fanfic
Day four: a site
Day five: a youtube clip
Day six: a quote
Day seven: whatever tickles your fancy

I didn't actually think I'd make it to day seven. I don't have anything prepared.

For lack of anything better, please enjoy my favourite XKCD comic. And by favourite I mean "most eerily similar to my actual life".

xkcd.com/627/

Sharing is Caring
For one week, recommend/share:
Day one: a song
Day two: a picture
Day three: a book/ebook/fanfic
Day four: a site
Day five: a youtube clip
Day six: a quote
Day seven: whatever tickles your fancy

I'm a compulsive collector of quotations and random snippets from poems. Here's a few of my current faves:

The only way of catching a train I have ever discovered is to miss the train before.
- G.K. Chesterton

Whenever one man, for whatever reason, has the opportunity to lead an extraordinary life, he has no right to keep it to himself.
- Jacques Cousteau

52.

The spotted hawk swoops by and accuses me, he complains of my gab
    and my loitering.

I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable,
I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.

The last scud of day holds back for me,
It flings my likeness after the rest and true as any on the shadow'd wilds,
It coaxes me to the vapor and the dusk.

I depart as air, I shake my white locks at the runaway sun,
I effuse my flesh in eddies, and drift it in lacy jags.

I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,
If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.

You will hardly know who I am or what I mean,
But I shall be good health to you nevertheless,
And filter and fibre your blood.

Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,
Missing me one place search another,
I stop somewhere waiting for you.
- Walt Whitman (Leaves of Grass, Book III)