Hmmm... it's been quite a few weeks since my last blog entry... so much news... I think this blog entry will have to be a multi-titled affair... here goes...

I Caved
Yeah. I finally joined Myspace... what I had previously written off as annoyingly unintuitive and damaging to relationships (due to the fact that you have to select a small group of "top friends"), isn't actually all that bad. Of course, Nebs had to join for me to realise that having a myspace page doesn't instantly make you Emo Incarnate. But yeah. I have a myspace page. Chances are you could be reading this on my myspace page (I'm putting my blog there as well as on my Elftown page). So, add me as a friend if you know me. And if you have, as I had, avoided myspace like the plague, give it a shot... if you know any of your school friends' full names, you can search for them and see how much weight they've lost since you graduated. W00t.

Holidays
Yep, the uni holidays are, like a housekeeper's lover, done and dusted, and they were, like the caramel icecream from Krispy Kreme, really good. I got lots of extra work, a few extra days with Nick, and made it, with much frostbite and altitude sickness, to the summit of Email Mountain (for about ten seconds, then I got all the replies). One of the highlights of the holidays was a trip to the Kew Cemetery while Nebs was away on camp. That was a wonderful day... photos galore. They have a really good memorial thingie there... it's got statues and a red leadlight ceiling, etc... just really cool. You can see some of my photos from the day on Nook:
http://ladychaos.nook.com.au/2007/07/17/kew-cemetery-thanks-winnierose/

Goodbye Angsty Teen Years
Nebs and I are now no longer teenagers! :D We turned 20 on the 29th of June. We spent the week beforehand doing teenagery things, such as shopping, dyeing our hair and getting more ear piercings (I've got 3 in each ear now! Yay!). For our party we went bowling with a few friends (strangely most of them exes) and then out to dinner at La Porchetta to celebrate. It was great, but it made me realise how hard it is to ensure everyone is enjoying themselves... very few of my friends knew each other, and thus if I wasn't talking to someone, that someone was alone. I don't know what I'll do about my 21st... possibly invite as many people as I know and then get them drunk enough to lose their inhibitions!

Coat Shopping
Yes, I spent a lot of time this holidays looking for a new coat (a birthday present from my parents). I wanted a really long one that I could wear with a long skirt without looking homeless, and of course, at a decent price. On the advice of two online forums, I went to all sorts of coat and clothes shops around the city looking for one, but eventually found a good enough coat at *shudder* the evil Myer. It was surprisingly cheap too... only $125, while most coats of a similar size are $225.

My Horoscope Was Right! ... It's CANCER!!
Well, not really. But that's what I thought when I found the swollen lymph node. A few weeks, two visits to the doctor, one blood test and one chest x-ray later, I found out that I've been running around with Glandular Fever sometime in the last month or two. Completely without symptoms, besides the swollen lymph nodes. Hooray for good luck! :D On the down side, the glandular fever has caused "abnormal liver function" (more tests in a month to see if it's fixed), which probably explains my sudden lack of tolerance to grog. Still, I can't really complain considering glandular fever lands some people in bed for ages.

Back (like baby got) To (like the ranting gryphon) Uni (like cycle)
Yeah, I didn't have a particularly clever one for "back to uni". So I'm back to uni, and once again clawing away at rubble, trapped under both Email Mountain and Homework Hill. And hence there probably won't be another blog entry for ages, much less any time on Elftown... how I used to be a reliable person... *sigh*.

Random Other Stuff
Nick is awesome, there's a Nook art exhibition coming up (for us arty Nooksters), there's a Christian vs. Atheist debate on next Tuesday, Nick is awesome, I entered the Monash Poetry Competition (cross your fingers for me), I sent my poetry into Lot's Wife (the uni magazine), Nick is awesome, Nick's cat is awesome, and Scrubs is a super show.

Stroke Me!!

Yes, that's right, you'd better come visit me in hospital, because I'm aphasic, drooling and half-paralysed after a very serious stroke... of LUCK!! :D

Below is a list of the various lucky things that have happened to me, gradually morphing from good luck to just positive happenings. May contain traces of extremely stretched stroke metaphor.

1. I won a Young Leader Scholarship from Leader Newspapers and went to the Communities in Control conference (it was only once I arrived that I realised they meant communities IN control as in empowered, not communities in control as in communities in complete government control. Hehe. Silly me.) So it was this free conference that usually costs over $200 to go to, complete with youth forum, free food and drink, etc.

Anyway, the conference was kickass good, for a conference. Apart from the fact that they held it way off woop-woop at Moonee Valley Racecourse, it was great - the speakers were cool and inspiring (apart from Kay Patterson, she made me soooo sleepy, but her message was good anyway), the food was great, the wine was extra great (and extra lots) and the people were nice. I don't like eating standing up, or not knowing who to talk to, but I guess it's all part and parcel of a conference. The youth forum day was better though - we got to sit in small groups and talk about community-related stuff, share ideas, etc.

The guy who said I'd won the Young Leader thing also said I'd get my photo taken with the other Young Leader people, and I'd get interviewed after the conference, but nothing of the sort has happened... I guess they got wise to the fact that I'm not much of a leadery type. Still, I do have some good ideas that I might email the council about once exams are over.

2. The next blood clot of luck to the brain that I recently suffered is, *drumroll*, I won an iPod on Nook!! My own wonderful, shiny, brand new iPod! Sadly it didn't work, not on mine or Nebsy's computer, while Nebsy's iPod works fine, so we had to send it back. Hopefully it's all under warranty and such, and an even more wonderful, shinier, brand newer iPod will be mine soon. But yay! Yay!! :D

3. Nick! I swear, this wonderful embolism of joy went straight to Wernicke's area toaster elephant cheesecake. Things with my wonderful Knight in Shining Amour (misspelling intentional!) are going t'riffic'ly. Because the conference finished late, Nick came and rescued me (that is, escorted me home on the train), which was really handy since I was mega tipsy from the free wine (three glasses. Three glasses. I swear, I used to be able to drink like a fish). And I got to see him for three whole days last weekend... We went to Frostbites (a bar with alcoholic slushies, and no, this time no tipsyness), and he gave me a ring! (Heheh... don't panic, not an engagement ring, just a really nice silver ring with a dark blue-purple stone in it). It's so nice! *Admires ring*. And we watched Scrubs! It's a great show. And then, on Saturday, Nick and I went to a...

4. Nook meet up!! Now, this thrombosis had been building up for a few weeks before it decided to head brainwards... it was all organised by a very awesome dude known as The Shadowmaster on Nook who writes biographies and is a really good photographer. And it was held at this really rustic, picturesque step-back-in-time farm place called Gulf Station. The meet up was so us arty nooksters could talk about a possible exhibition of artwork that we'd been sort of planning (another Shadowmaster idea), and to see and photograph Gulf Station. I got a few good photos, and it seems like the exhibition will be "go"! :D


... And, well, that about does me for good luck.

In the not-so-great news category, I'm in the middle of exams. And, needless to say, visiting a shopping centre at least five days a week. Hooray! Seriously though, I really need to study. I have four days to study for two exams, and while I'm not exactly panicking, I'm not discoing either. Still, after the exams comes three glorious weeks of freedom from all things sciencey. One of which will be spent Nebsless, as she's going to Summit, a Christian camp in Mansfield. As the Arctic Monkeys so perfectly put it, Nebs "must be up to summit".

Might I take this opportunity, while I still have your attention (IF I still have your attention) to recommend to everyone the eating of instant noodles. Upon embarking on my money-saving, noodle-eating campaign several weeks ago, I've noticed a real improvement in my tummy-health. No more feeling sick if I get up early, no more feeling sick if I have a strong coffee, and much less time spent within the everlasting gloom of what we call the ladies' room. It's amazing! And simply from noodles. Well, it's either the noodles, or the near-constant eating (at least every three hours) that Nebs and I have been trying to do lately.

Well, it's back to readin' handouts from all my lecs. Hmmm... I wish Superman could help me defeat the evil Lecs Luthor. That's better. Now I've made my lecture notes sound cool.

"I imagine you are surprised to see me here"

Yes, the words of Lincoln Hall, a mountain climber, after being left for dead on Mt. Everest, to the people who found him stumbling down the mountain.
My point is this: You've found me, stumbling down from the summit of Email And Homework Mountain, my fingers in pretty much the same shape as Mr Hall's were, only instead of from frostbite, from typing.

Anyways, what's been up lately in Chaos Land? Well, things with my lovely new man Nick are going wonderfully well... he knows all this stuff about the city, and took me to the Cherry Bar. A bar! A real bar. I thought they were only for happy, lucky, rich people with armies of friends and convoys of cars, but Nick makes it possible. Oooh, and did I mention that he has a cat... a dear little black cat called Czarina. She's so tame and cute and follows us around his house. She's been pretty much cuddled non-stop from kittenhood, apparently, and will now tolerate being cradled in one's arms like a baby and having her soft little paws played with. So cute!!
And hopefully, this Friday we might be going to live music!

Things with uni are going well too... The genetics and molecular biology labs seem to have gotten cooler as the years wear on - I hear in a few weeks we'll get to look at Zebrafish (the model organism with the coolest biological name, Danio Rerio), and oh boy, I hope we get to keep them. I figure they're about as close to mice as we're going to get.

Also, Nebs and I are on a bit of a diet (not a weight loss diet, don't panic... Nebs goes anwhere near a weight loss diet and we whisk her off to the doctor). We're trying to eat small meals frequently, that is, never go more than three hours without eating. It's supposed to raise our estrogen levels (meaning less hair loss, less stomach problems, fat goes where it's wanted and osteoporosis is avoided) and raise our metabolism (meaning hopefully Nebs will actually be able to keep warm). So far it's lots of fun - after all, who doesn't enjoy seven meals a day or more? :D

On the down side of the Chaos Land news bulletin, I'm in a bit of financial trouble. My mum has said that I have to earn a certain amount of money each year by the time the uni fees statement arrives (which is soon), and if I don't, I have to pay board (yeah, I know, completely irrational. That's Parent Logic for you). I've managed to save the amount of money necessary, but not much more besides, so I can't take money out of the bank for things like, you know, say, FOOD, for a few weeks. Thank goodness for loans from the Bank of Nebs. (Incidentally Nebs, if you're reading this, I'll get you your money soon, please don't break my legs!) Fortunately for me, I've also discovered the amazing cheapness of Two Minute Noodles, just the carbfest I need. And better yet, for some reason my mum is buying them for me! I'm saving $9 a week! They should be called scrimp flavour instead of shrimp, I swear.

In more cheery news, you remember that awesomely addictive online community Nook? You know, the one that spelt the end of my time to actually enter Elftown art competitions? Well, a Nook friend of mine suggested that we Nooksters have a photo exhibition... sounds good or what?! I hope it happens, I really do.

I've recently entered a contest to name the bar at uni. I suggested Bar Black Sheep, clever or what? (*Groans and rolls eyes at own lameness*). If I win, I get a bar tab so Nebs and I can have Irish coffee instead of caramel coffee on Monday Mornings! :D

Also, guess what... BATMAN!! That's what. After yawning through two lousy Batman movies (Batman and Batman and Robin), Nebs and I rented Batman Forever, on Nick's advice. And oh boy, it was so good. It's surprisingly rare that Nebs and I find a movie we both absolutely love, and this was definitely one of those movies. Oh, the villains! The delightful villains! How I love a good over-the-top cartoonish villian, and Batman Forever had TWO!! :D Two-Face, to be more specific. And The Riddler. And they become FRIENDS!! If you haven't seen it, dearest blog readers, then holey rusted metal, Batman, what are you waiting for? To the Batmobile! Go, now!

Well, that's about it from Gotham City... uh, I mean Chaos Land... I get those two confused lately...
Hopefully by the time you're reading my next blog entry, I'll be rich, have healthy estrogen levels, have seen live music with Nick, be part of a photo exhibition, have a uni bar named after my idea, and Two-Face and The Riddler will have turned my house into their secret hideout (Nebs and I can be Sugar and Spice respectively... heh heh... just kidding, Nick's the only Batman Villain for me!) XD

GRINDHOUSE

Yes folks, we have a double feature blog entry! Simply because I'd started writing the first one, and then something that out-cools it happened, so it deserves it's own title, and a stack of hype... but still, I'll try to hold the chronological order, so you get the best news second, once you've waded through the boring stuff!

And no, I haven't seen Grindhouse. It's not out here yet. But I will, oh yes, I will. It looks awesome.

Gone Readin'

As the title suggests, I've been reading lately. Now, for other people this may be normal, but for me? Oh-ho-ho no. Prior to this year, the last fiction book I read was... hmmm, back in 03, and the last voluntary (non-textbook) book I read was back in 05. You see, my new reading habit started when [hannes] sent me Moominland Midwinter, a lovely Finnish kids' book (translated, of course). And then, long story short, a rather reputable magazine advice columnist recommended I read some Anne Rice books. And oh boy, they are unexpectedly good! I'm a whole centimetre into "Interview with the Vampire"! Cliche, I know, but hey, it's a jolly good read. And THEN I read this other book about a girl from Nepal, cover to cover this morning... man, reading gives me crazy dreams too... it's awesome.

In other news, man, It's been ages since I last blogged... so much stuff... uni's going good (although my procrastinating skills are improving at the same rate as my genetics, molecular biology and psych skills), I got more ear piercings (do it, kids!), I met a friend from Nook last Sunday (he's this really cool smart writer dude), and Easter absolutely kicked ass... Good Friday was a visit to Church, a lunch of smoked salmon chowder, prawns, hot cross buns and booze with the olds, Nebs and our auntie Woo, and Easter Sunday was a breakfast of chocolate (AT LAST! Lent is over!), a visit to Church, and a lunch of roast lamb and hot cross buns with [MisterScurvy] and the family. Man, I love Easter.

Also, it seems that lately Nebs has started following me to uni one or two times a week. She'll come to Monash every Monday, and if we get coffees, she'll even come to my genetics lecture. It's so nice having company at uni, and Nebs is happy just to be left in the library or computer room (or anywhere else warm and quiet) to study while I go to class. It's like Monday is the new Christmas! :D

And now, dearest audience, the second, and best feature...

The Best Date Ever

Yep... the Single Dragon has been slain by the valiant efforts of a brave and chivalrous Knight, Sir Nick, who rode up on his mighty steed out of the fiery depths of RSVP.com to face the Single Dragon in a deadly jousting match on Saturday. While at first the Single Dragon's sidekick, the First Date Nerves Goblin was taunting me (the helpless Damnsel), Sir Nick quickly dispatched it with a hug... and... well, gee, I just don't see how I can stretch this knights metaphor to cover our trip to the Outre gallery, Minotaur Bookshop or the Bubble Tea place... but oh boy, I tellsya, that Outre Gallery was something else... I've never seen such wickedcool art... it's somehow bright colours and dark at once... all high contrast and smooth lines, and it's free to get in! And Minotaur's got some pretty cool stuff in there, although maybe you'd have to know what you're looking for.

Anyway, after the Bubble Tea, we went to the Zoo. As in, the actual, Zoo. Oh, you know, the Zoo. The one which I've been wanting to go to for like, a year. That's right. The Zoo. (Not bragging or anything). We saw so many cool animals, it was just awesome. There were these Indian Spiny Porcupine things that were cool, also cool was this fantastically coloured bird, but number one would have to be the Meerkats... they're both cute and cool at the same time.

Then, after the zoo we went out for dinner at a Japanese restaurant! We got delicious sushi (it had caviar on it! Real, no foolin' caviar!) and chicken teriyaki which I'd never tried and was just as good as Nick had said it would be. AND THEN we want and saw 300! :D What a wonderful day.

But the best part of the whole brilliant day was by far Nick... I couldn't stop smiling all day (actually, I felt a bit stupid for smiling so much), but I just coudn't help it. He's so incredibly smart and funny and individual and polite and interesting and... just so different from the bland, dumb, un-quirky, no-sense-of-humour caricature of online dating guys that has been pacing back and forth in my head threatening me with "Soon we'll be together!" for the last couple of months or so. And I get to see him again on Wednesday! :D

So yeah, I'm just on Cloud Eighty-One (nine squared!) at the moment... and another brilltastical thing about Nick is that now I have something to do other than sit in a dingy stone turret waiting to be rescued from the Single Dragon, I'm actually getting more of my homework done. He's my drawbridge - my Moat Evasion (hehe... you get it? Motivation?). Speaking of which, I must retreat once more to my Castle of Genetics Lab Reports. Those Arabidopsis apetala3 and agamous mutants won't know what hit 'em!

Happy Autumn!

I have so many clever titles for this blog entry that I figured I'd carve it up into bite-sized slices, in chronological order, not only helping to keep your attention squished between my fingers, but also giving those aversed to hearing all the ins and outs and roundabouts of Australian Politics™ their chance to avoid the political "slice" of blog. So here goes...

Wedding Knells
Yeah... I'm just glad that Andrew's brother's wedding is over. Now that's not to say that it wasn't a nice service with a good reception, or that Andrew's family wasn't friendly... just that No One And I Mean No One Wants To Stand Around In 38 Degree Celsius Heat Watching Other People Get Their Photos Taken For Hours And Hours And Hours.
And it brings me to this point... <rant> Seriously, on your wedding day, everyone wants photos. Fair enough, I would want photos if it were my wedding day. But if the actual getting of the photos involves traipsing around for hours, going to this place and that place and standing in the sun, getting all hot and sweaty and bored, why would you do it? Sure, it would give you more photos, but if, when you look back on the photos of your wedding, and all you can remember is how hot and tired you were, and how sick of smiling you got, and how all you wanted was to sit down with a nice cool drink and chill out before the reception... what's the point? One good housefire and all the photos are gone, but the memories in your head will last all the way up until dementia hits in your late 70s! Some people just have out-of-whack priorities. </rant>

It's Always Better On Holiday
Our holiday to Nepean Country club went pretty well... Okay, well, say it's potential for fun was 10, the normal fun level of life is 5, and having no fun whatsover would be a 0... on that scale, I give it a 6.5... While we did get to do lots of swimming (once at a SURF BEACH!!! YEAAAAH!!!), I did have a migraine for a whole day (I've only had them two or three times before, the last one was several years ago), and that really fracked up the holiday's score. Also, [Man With Stick] was miserable the entire time... and much as it was a holiday, where it would be hard to have a bad time with all the fun stuff we did, it isn't easy to enjoy yourself when you know your Special Someone isn't enjoying themself too, for reasons that you can't fix... *sigh*... I thought I'd be drunk on alcohol, but instead it was a sickening cocktail of guilt, confusion and futility... *woe woe woe*.
But other than those two crummy things that happened, it was jolly great! Oh, the food was fantastic, the beaches were awesome, we watched stacks of movies and saw Epic Movie at the cinema, we went on a tour of some military stuff at Point Nepean... and despite the Sunburn Monster snapping at all of our heels, I cleverly avoided being devoured and excreted as a newspaper (black and white and red all over). Sadly I did get a bit chewed by the Tan Monster, but not quite enough to prove Darwin's theory (wasn't it The Oranging of Species?). Needless to say, next Tuesday I have an appointment to donate blood, and claim victory for my Pale once and for all over the evil Tan Monster!

She's In Political Parties
It was Preselection Voting time in the Labor Party last week, for the seat of La Trobe (the federal electorate that I'm in), which means that we party members get to vote for who will be our candidate for that seat (currently held Jason Wood of the icky Liberal Party), and because I've been in the party for *sigh of intense pride* years, I got to vote! And, accordingly, I got a mailbox jammed with propaganda from each of the candidates. Needless to say, I voted for Anne Eckstein (previously rockingly awesome MP of the state electorate of Ferntree Gully), and I got a lift in her supercool fancy satellite navigated talking car to where we voted. And unfortunately, she didn't win. But the guy who did win seemed pretty cool too (don't tell Anne that!), so I guess it's okay. VOTE LABOR, Y'ALL!!

Unified
Heh... there's a new use for an old word! Yeppers, uni's back on, and in all honesty, it kicks ass to be back. I missed the place, I missed the food, I missed not having to work more than once a week, I missed the chance to meet new people (customers excluded, after all, they're not really people) and most of all I missed getting to do my makeup every day. I thought that the summer holidays would never be long enough... but they turned out longer than the list of Crazy Frog related murder-suicides!

Deakintaminated
I got to go to Deakin (Nebsy's uni) and Box Hill shopping centre last Friday, and oh boy, what a good day. We ate Bubble Cup tea, sushi and "puffy"... these delicious balls of pastry with custard in them (I think it's an Asian food). And I got the long black skirt I'd been hunting for, and 2 new tops, one of which has little silver bits of metal hanging from it and looks rockingly awesome. Oh how I love shopping.

Lent Me Your Ears
Nebs and I are giving up Chocolate for lent. I haven't had anything chocolate since whenever lent started (sometime on our holiday). It hasn't been any trouble so far... no cravings, no temptation... the only problem is when something has chocolate in it and you don't know, such as the sample of "classic" hot cross buns at Baker's Delight that turned out to be Choc Cross Buns. The only other bad thing is people's laughingly misguided view that it will, in fact, be very difficult for us to go without chocolate for 40 days. For one thing, it's voluntary... and for another, we're replacing chocolate, rather than just going without... coffee flavoured milk instead of chocolate flavoured, a bag of chips instead of a chocolate bar... it's really quite easy.
Ideally, when Lent ends (Easter Sunday, I think), Nebs and I can gorge ourselves on chocolate, and the result will be what it used to be before chocolate took its rightful place at the bottom of the food pyramid for us... we'll be sitting on the floor, laughing uncontrollably every time we eat an Easter egg.

And now, perhaps the most important part of this blog entry...

Singletondom
[Man With Stick] and I broke up...
Because sometimes I like to pretend to be a nice person, I don't tell you, my dearest and most valued blog readers, about all of the ins, outs, ups and downs of my relationships with boyfriends, friends or family members. After all, I don't want to become Her Gossip Majesty, and I'm sure my blog readers don't want to help my ascension to that particular throne by reading all the crunchy, crackly, dessicated details. So naturally I didn't tell you about how Andrew and I were having doubts, and noticing all the myriad differences between us. But we were, with the age/life stage difference playing a big part. And now we're not together... although still friends. And I'm sure I'll have plenty of good memories of our relationship... And they have 'till St Patrick's day to pack up and get out, otherwise I'll flush them out the old fashioned way... alcohol! (Ha ha ha... kidding. Nothin' wrong with good memories of exes!) So yeah... now I'm just livin' the single lyfe... enjoying "me" time and all the empowerment that.... Okay, okay, I give... if nothing turns up in my labs this week, I'm back on RSVP this Friday.


And a big thanks to [hannes]!! (I want all my blog readers to know how cool she is) I just got your letter and book! :D I was absolutely delighted, and super glad I missed the bus today so I was home when the mail got delivered. I love kids books, and haven't read a non-textbook book in about 3 years. Thankyou!!

Goodbye Cruel World!!

Yep, you guessed, I'm heading off on holiday soon... (and this blog entry WAS going to be wittily titled "goodbye cool world", until Nebsy won the iPod on Nook and not me. *String of semi-audible curses*. She doesn't even NEED an iPod, what with her uncanny ability to actually read while on the bus... stupid Nook admin...

Anyway, before I choke on my angerball, which I hear all the cool kids are doing these days, I thought I'd prattle on about how awesome the holiday's going to be, and how not on Elftown, MSN, or even *sob* Nook I'm going to be while I'm away. The "goodbye cruel world" metaphor writhes back into relevance regarding the holiday because I won't be doing a lot of things that those in The Land of the Living do... including sleeping, working, or enjoying the benefits of inhibitions or full consciousness (thanks to all the booze that we're taking up there!) So yeah, it's going to be pretty fantasteriffic.

Tomorrow is Packing Day... the day we spend trying to cram our entire wardrobes into our giant suitcases (and usually succeed!). Then, our mum is driving Nebs and Pez up to the resort, while me and Andrew stay home. But why, you ask? Get this...

The day after tomorrow is Wedding Day! Andrew and I are going to his brother's wedding! The first wedding I've been to since I was 14... and although some archaic and anachronistic tradition (perhaps invented by the same person who said the bride has to wear white) forbids me from sitting at the same table as Andrew at the reception, it'll hopefully still be kick-ass, and I'll at least get to play with the baby for a while (Andrew's niece).

And then, finally, on Sunday, my stick-bearing man and I will go off to Nepean Country Club, and we'll get to take the Carless Carcasses Nebs and Perry (sorry guys, it just sounded so funny!) shopping in Rosebud (which I hope isn't the butthole that it's name so euphemistically implies). And, as for the rest of the week? We'll spend it scurrying from beach to booze, if all goes according to plan.
I suppose after saying that, it is time for my customary YEAAAAH!!

In other news, which I probably should have told you earlier, but didn't because it'd mess up the cleverness of the title, yesterday was Valentines Day! Andrew, like the imaginary children in John Howard's happy fairy land, went totally overboard! He got me a teddy bear with a customised message on the jumper, and this whole basket of wonderful, delicious, hand-picked chocolates! And by "this whole basket", I mean a giant basket, totally filled with chockies of all different types. And we went out to dinner at La Porchetta! And for a Nightwalk! Oh, how I love our nightwalks. *Sighs happily*.

Well, now that I've bragged about how awesome my life is, I'd thank you to leave me to my woe... Nebs is picking up her new iPod tomorrow... *wails sorrowfully*

Cheerio, and if I die from alcohol poisoning or some beach-related mishap, remember kids... believe in God, vote Labor, wear black, listen to Swollen Members, and for the love of my booze-bloated, seaweed-covered corpse... PUBLISH MY POETRY!!

Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!!

I've been so neglectful of you, dearest blog readers and fellow Elftowners lately... I just haven't been on Elftown at all. Now, I know the fault isn't entirely mine... well, actually the fault isn't at all mine. It's shared between work (I'm working five days a week now) and Nook (stupid Nook, being so addictive!). So the ET valentine's poem and art contests haven't been entered yet, nor have any banners been made or messages replied to. But I'm working on it!

In other news, Australia Day did, in fact, kick ass... [MisterScurvy], [Man With Stick] and [damn_deleted] came over, and so did my auntie Woo. Of course, [Nebsy] and the parents were there too! We ate lamingtons, Anzac biscuits, vegemite and cheese pita pieces (Woo made them), meat pies and salad, and we drank Rumba ($9) and Butterscotch schnapps ($13). You gotta love the cheap grog.
We played celebrity heads and uno, and watched Lady in the Water, which, might I add was better than I'd expected. So, a good night was had by all! (... Either that, or they're all very good actors.)

Something else awesome is coming up too... on the 18th of Feb, me, Nebs and the boys are going away on holiday to Nepean Country Club (somewhere near Rosebud or "The Penninsula", wherever that is), and staying till the 23rd. It'll be our first parent-free holiday!! The resort looks awesome too... not too far from the beach, indoor and outdoor pool, tennis courts, golf course, ducks and geese to feed... oh, it's going to be BRILL!!! Now all I have to do is not break any bones or get sick until then. *Sits very still and twiddles thumbs*.

My previously mentioned flash animation for Writer's Block (the poem) is coming along well... the photo-taking part is more than half finished... leaving only about 30 more photos to get. *Sigh*... I didn't realise it was such a big project. Oh well, next stop, the meat shop, to buy a lamb's heart. Oh yes, there will be a lamb's heart in it. (But don't worry kiddies; it's meant to be a human heart!)

Gettin' Some Nookie

When a man and a woman love each other very, very much, they get married! And on their wedding night they go to bed together and close the curtains and have an extra special cuddle, involving many rusty trombones, angry pirates, frozen freight trains, vulcan shockers and strawberry shortcakes.*

Well, that's probably what you thought when you read the title of today's blog entry... and I hate to disappoint you, but that wasn't the Nookie I was referring to, oh no. I was referring instead to Nook (www.nook.com.au). Basically, it's this awesome website for Melburnians / Victorians, where you can post (e.g. a blog entry or whatever), review a business, or ask a question. All posts, reviews and questions go up on a big communal noticeboard, where other Nooksters can answer or comment on them. It's surprisingly addictive, being able to help total strangers with their problems, especially when one knows that there's an iPod Nano competition where the more you post and comment, the more likely you are to win. So, yeah, I've been getting quite a bit of Nookie lately.

In other news...

Ahhhh, finally, [Nebsy] and I got our much-awaited visit to The Queen Vic Market. And oh, it was fantastic. We spent the day on pretty much a diet of ice cream and donuts, which fuelled the hours of non-stop walking, shopping, and staring open-mouthed at the weird and wonderful things that one only sees at a market in the city (they have a stall that stocks Alchemy jewellery!). The price range of everything was towards the lower end of what you'd find at a mall (fewer big brand shops) but on the down side there were less discount racks, so in the end most of the stuff I liked fell outside my price range anyway. *Sigh*. Nonetheless, Nebsy did do an awesome job of haggling for a handbag she wanted there, and got it for $15 instead of $20. After that, we kept shopping, and went to Melbourne Central (this seemingly underground, windowless shopping centre with big, bright advertisements anywhere you want to look). After getting some free samples of delicious, different liqueurs, we did find a good jewellery shop, and got 2 pairs of earrings for Nebs and a silver (or at least metal) necklace for me for $3.30 each. Bargain!!

In other (actual) news...

Well, wrap yourself up in an Aussie flag, because they're the new badass attire these days... they were thinking of banning Aussie flags from the Big Day Out (a music festival) in Sydney! Wow! That puts our seemingly boring flag, (complete with its union jack and non-green-and-gold colour scheme) right up there with drugs, alcohol and weapons! Because it's just THAT cool!!
Speaking of patriotism, it's Australia Day on Friday... ahhh, any excuse to celebrate... Nebs and I are planning what we should do... [MisterScurvy], prepare to be contacted!

*Confused? www.urbandictionary.com will help you out on the terminology.

But We Don't Drop

Despite cruel fate's best efforts to conspire against our shopping trip to the Queen Vic market, not all was lost! Granted, our intended Market Day was 36 degrees, but clever Nebsy worked out how we could still go shopping... Go to Chadstone! (It's this really big shopping mall, known as the "fashion capital"). So, thanks to Nebsy's bus timetable arranging skills, we hauled ass to Chaddy today, to escape the heat and shop 'til we drop in air-conditioned comfort. And oh, what a wonderful day. Not that Chaddy's a particularly better shopping centre than Eastland (where we usually go), mainly due to the fact that it is cruelly expensive, but it was just nice to shop outside of our natural habitat. Needles to say, we didn't buy much there (well, Nebs got a pair of thongs), but spent hours just mall-ratting around looking at stuff, including a delightful visit to Toys 'R' Us and several delightful visits to the food court. Once we'd "done" Chadstone, we hopped back on the bus home, but instead went to The Glen (another shopping centre, near where I go to uni) for more shopping! And, through some joyous bloodclot-to-the-brain (stroke) of good luck, I managed to get a fairly decent haircut for $18 from a student hairdresser. Yeaaah!! So now my hair is significantly shorter and a bit layered looking, but cleverly sidestepping any emoness... think of a curlier, girlier version of Android #17 from Dragonball Z. And while we were at The Glen, I got some new black and purple socks and a matching purple ribbon. What an awesome day.

Hmmm... I feel so guilty for having blathered on about myself and how happy I am for the last 260-odd words that I feel almost obligated to put in something miserable just to balance out the sickly sweetness that no one, and I mean no one, expects or wants to find in a blog.

*Thinks*

"Sometimes dogs get so hungry that they eat their own tails! Isn't that great?"
- Saddy Dumpington, "A Folky Tale", Homestar Runner.

Heh... you wish that was all the news I have!
I suppose I should tell everyone now... for the last week or two I've been slowly working on a flash animation... It's going to be me reading one of my poems (Writer's Block, see below) aloud, with background music (thanks to Justin R. Durban of www.edgen.com/music), and appropriate photos flashing up on the screen. Right now I'm just amassing photos, which is proving to be great fun... so far I've got many photos of my hands, a cemetery and a disgusting bleeding eye that I created with fake blood). Don't worry, less-creepy ones will follow... eventually.


Well, I guess this counts for a second dose of "misery" in this blog entry... enjoy!

Writer's Block and Thinker's Block

Writer's block and thinker's block
So the good can start, the great must stop
I scream all the words I've always said
I press all the buttons but they're dead
All the things I'm all about...
I'm locked down but still locked out
And despite all my futile hoping
I turn the handle, but the door won't open

So I can breathe, I must not eat
So I can live, I must not sleep
So I can walk, I must not stand
So I can reach, I cut off my hands

Choose the sun, and get no rain
Choose to be numb and feel no pain
Choose to be blind and hear no sound
Choose to be wise, and turn around

Cold stone body and warm stone heart
So the worse can stop, the bad must start
I have the wings, but still can't fly
I have the shell, but no insides
All the things I'm all about...
That never fell to fire, flood or doubt
Are gone so I can keep on dreaming
Dreams with no words, and much less meaning.


... And, hopefully Nebsy's day off next week can be Market Day! :D

Everybody In The House Gettin' Tipsy

Gin + Tonic + Parents = Finding out how cool your parents were when they were your age.

In other news... the Week of Work is almost over... only one more day... hopefully soon Nebsy and I can go shopping at Vic Market in the city (I mentioned we were going before; sadly we didn't go because Worky McWorkwork (Nebsy) got called in to work.) YEEAAAAH!!!

Rapping Up The Year

[Nebsy] got us the new Swollen Members album "Black Magic"... and oh boy, what a great album... if anyone out there reading this appreciates rap, then you gotta listen to this. They rap to the music of "Pressure" by Billy Joel! They have songs called Prisoner of Doom, Torture, Dark Clouds, Sinister and Massacre! So different to how most rappers will just talk about money, sex, drugs or guns (not that I have a problem with that formula either!) But oh boy, whether or not they up on top (which they are), Swollen Members rock. And apparently they'll have a new album out in the summer of '07! Yeeaaah!!

Something I forgot to mention in my last blog entry was, *drumroll*, Nebsy's hair... I did tell you that she was going to go blonde, right? Well, my mum and I worked on blondening the Nebs, but despite our best efforts, her hair somehow still managed to go bright yellow. Fortunately, Nebs was able to go to the hairdressers and get them to fix it, which was a little unnerving at the time considering the hairdresser who did it had pink tufts sticking out from under a hat that she wore indoors... but all turned out well, so now Nebbers has slightly lighter and redder hair that her usual colour, and it looks jolly awesome. After all, redheads look great! *Winks at [Man With Stick]*.

Anyway, so it appears that 2006 is almost over, which, combined with the fact that I don't have work today, means that you'll be reading my obligatory wrap-up of the year... I'll try and make it different to last year's, I promise...

Ahhh, 2006, the year of MySpace rip-off websites, celebrity babies and that awful blue colour of clothing; a year without any Bali Bombings, another year under Howard/Blair/Bush and the year in which, despite all the wars going on at the moment, the entire world was united in the universal opinion that Justin Timberlake was not, in fact, bringing sexy "back"...

All in all this year has been "weird" in terms of whether or not it was a good year. I'm tempted to say it was all happy smiling daisies growing in the land of talking animals and rainbows because that just so happens to be where I am now, but in all honesty, the first half of the year - with the exception of the many joyous hours I spent RPing in Decay - was pretty crapful. "The Man With The Blowtorch And The Man With The Pliers" (depression) came knocking on my door after Prince Charming went crazy and I swore off online dating... but "The Man With The Stick and The Man With The Brilliant Mind, Beautiful Smile And Red Hair" (Andrew) came knocking on my door after I swore ("Frack it!") and went back on online dating. So the good balanced out the bad in the end.

Some of the other smaller but still awesome things that happened this year were...
- I made my first Flash animation, "I'm A Rapper".
- I was employed all year! I didn't even get a little bit fired!
- Nebs and I enjoyed the wonders of role playing in [lacklustre]'s post-apocalyptic RP Decay.
- My poetry folder expanded by more than 140 poems.
- I developed a wonderful addiction to Wikipedia... I use it almost at least once a day now...
- My wardrobe continued its descent into an abyss of total blackness (and occasional greyness), and so did my hair! (...Fortunately not the greyness, not yet anyway). I was unsure at first, but dyeing my hair was one of the best decisions I made this year.
- My marks at uni continued their descent into an abyss of total blackness too... before being rescued by the motivation to do homework known as Andrew, and returning to normal!
- [hannes] went to America to meet [pelv13]... I know it's not something that happened to me, but it is amazing to see these two good friends of mine finally meet up. Good luck guys!
- I started being more active on Elftown and acquring badges from entering the competitions.
- I gained an appreciation for what I had previously written off as "boy music", that is, metal, by listening to popular groups like Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir.
- My stomach problems were almost entirely fixed thanks to a wonderful little friend called Gastro Stop.
- [Nebsy] happened. In fact, Nebsy never stops happening.

Some of the other less awesome things that happened this year were...
- I got 54% on a test at uni.
- I watched someone lose their mind ("Prince Charming").
- I had to break up with a poor guy because I realised he wasn't right for me ("Mr Nice Guy").
- I found out the hard way that neither Luvox or Lexapro do diddly squat.
- Nebsy somehow lost weight.
- The camera batteries started to crack up.
- Ummm.... that's about it really... oh wait...
- One day at work I found an open packet of chicken fillets with one partially pulled out of the plastic and a bite missing from it.

And so yeah, that's pretty much the year... But what do I hope for 2007?
- Easier uni subjects and less homework!!
- Another year with Andrew!
- Another year employed at the meat shop.
- To perhaps sometime see some sort of live music or go to a nightclub.
- To never have to wear anything but black unless I actually want to.
- To not be so horribly lonely at uni.
- More time to be able to help my mum.
- For Nebs to put her weight back on and be able to keep warm again.
- And many, many more and better poems and pictures.

Well, thanks for your patience with my ego-ravings... and may your 2007 also be fantasteriffic! Happy New Year! (Don't get too drunk!*)

*Just kidding. Get too drunk. I know I will be! (Many thanks to my parents for the Melon Liqueur from Aldi... Go out and buy, people! It's one third the price of Midori for the same stuff!!)

Very Merry Indeed

That's right folks, I've been stumbling around in a stupor of constant irrepressible delight for the last few days which culminated in the wonderful celebration that we know as Christmas, and shows no signs of abating. Christmas was awesome! We had 7 people there, including [Man With Stick]! The food was wonderful, and so were the presents! This year's line up includes a mobile phone (from the parents), a black case for said mobile phone (from [Nebsy]), a gorgeous necklace and matching earrings AND a box of chocolates (from [Man With Stick]), a DVD of our holiday to Kyneton earlier this year (from [damn_deleted]), a gift voucher (from my auntie Woo), a keyring and MORE chocolates (from Andrew's parents), and various food-related presents to share with my stick-bearing man from his family. So, needles (yes, needles) to say, I was very happy with this year's "haul". Anyway, after having Christmas Dinner (lunch, really, but we call it Christmas dinner) and opening presents, Andrew and I went to his family's Christmas dinner, which was also delicious, especially the desserts! Oh, so much food. So all in all, a wonderful, wonderful day, and I continue to love Christmas for another year! :D

And, speaking of my love for Christmas, I won the Christmas Poetry Competition!! Won it! (Well, okay, I was one of five winners). Despite the fact that the theme was snow, which I have no clue about what with the whole living-in-the-best-country-in-the-world thing, I still managed to write something halfway decent. And by "halfway decent", I mean sappier and cornier than a corn cob covered in sap, tightly clutched in the twig-hand of a cheerful talking snowman with a chorus of woodland animals gathered around it singing Christmas carols. *Shudders at own sellout-ness*... Anyway, enjoy:


No Snow

There's no blanket of white powder, no snowmen or snowball fights
There's no catching snowflakes on our tongues or chilly Christmas nights
But there's also no stopping Christmas, nor Santa and his sleigh
For the scorching heat of Down Under won't scare Kris Kringle away

There might not be crisp and frosty flakes, not a mitten on a single hand
And snow might be a distant concept that we don't really understand
We might not be drinking eggnog, instead replacing it with beer
But it doesn't stop the Christmas spirit, the carols or the cheer

There's no ice-skating children, for our lakes don't ever freeze
And no icicles are hanging from our eucalyptus trees
But the sound of reindeer hooves on the tin roof let us know
That Christmas doesn't stop simply because there's no snow.


Ahh, good to have you back from your diabetic comas after all those empty calories of sickly sweetness! In other news, I've made "first contact"... that is, got my first pair of contact lenses. They're quite comfortable, and I seem to have gotten the hang of putting them in and out, but wearing them has made me realise two things... 1. My terrible eyesight really isn't all that bad... or at least not bad enough to force my mum to fork out over $200 every six months for contact lenses, and 2. Oh boy, I really do wear too much eyeliner and it looks a lot worse than I thought. I just didn't know it looked so bad, because one metre away from the mirror, the half a centimetre of stark, black cracked-looking eyeliner appears to just blend into the skin. Curse my shoddy eyes for tricking me for so long!

Anyway, now that I've purchased a new and much better eyeliner pen, Nebsy and I are heading cityward tomorrow for our much-awaited shopping trip into the Queen Vic Market. Yeeeeaaaah!!!

I'm A Big Phoney After All...

Alright, alright, I must eat humble pie on this occasion; Alexander Graham Bell, I am truly sorry for all the cruel things I said about your invention, the telephone... I'm very sorry for the numerous occasions on which I complained about the phone, cursed the phone, or put my head in my hands, wailed and rolled my eyes back in my head with sheer abiding woe upon hearing the ringing of the phone for the millionth unwelcome time that day... because now, after doing battle with said phone for so long, I feel it is time to make peace. But why, you ask? Ahhh, here is the best part... My parents bought me a brand spankin' new mobile phone!!! Yeaaaah!! (And, of course, they bought [Nebsy] one too!) Oh, it takes pictures! It plays mp3s! It can connect to the computer! Oh, it's an absolute marvel of a creature, so much bigger and better than my old phone (which, might I add, has served me well these last two years). The only downside to it is that it's white, but I made a black phone jewellery thing for it - complete with rubber spider - so that it looks better. Anyway, I had best not continue blathering on about how fantastic my new phone is in case I cause the readers to turn up their toes and die from pure envy. Hehe. Boy it's a good phone.

Anyway, in other news! Christmas is approaching, bearing down on us like an avalanche of food, presents and holiday cheer... I have to get Nebs a present, but other than that all my shopping's done. Hopefully I'll get a sleighload of extra work in the days leading up to Christmas.

Another random piece of news... that rifle toting, rapping clone of mine (Nebs) is going BLONDE this week. Blonde!! She's done the test strand and all... so, hopefully sometime on Wednesday, myself and my mum will help Nebs take 50 points off her IQ by giving her hair euthanasia (helping it to dye). Also, today Nebs dyed my hair back to black... the world is now a better place without my contribution of two and a half centimetres of mouse-brown regrowth. <:3 )~~~

My ever-enchanting [Man With Stick] took me to see Eragon recently... and, all you Elftowners, if you haven't already seen it, go see it! That movie was awesome. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who noticed that Durza (the evil magic guy) just happened to look like a redheaded version of Dani Filth (from Cradle of Filth), complete with eerie pale blue eyes, (though with less makeup)... judge for yourself...

Durza
http://www.starpulse.com/Movies/Eragon/gallery/ERAGONMOVIE008/
http://www.starpulse.com/Movies/Eragon/gallery/ERAGONMOVIE016/

Dani
http://www.angelfire.com/in2/Vampyres/danigallery6.html

Anywhoa, I've prattled enough... whoever you are who has been so patient as to read through this entire blog entry (especially the inane comparisons of the appearance of movie characters with music people), then you thoroughly deserve...

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Party People
_{WARNING: If you really don't care about Australian Politics, you might want to not read this blog entry, despite the witticisms that you will be missing out on.}

Woohooo!!! Another four years of advancement, progress and prosperity under a Bracks Labor state government. And I can proudly say that I did my bit! The kind and ever-patient-with-other-people's-lame-political-causes [Man With Stick] and I handed out how-to-vote (Labor, of course) cards at the election, and I tell you what, it was FUN! I didn't think I would enjoy it so much, but it was really good - smiling at all the annoyed voters trying to make their way to the polling booth without armfuls of propaganda, talking and just generally basking in Andrew's glow... and, of course, giving everyone who attended our polling booth between three-thirty and six The Chance To Vote Labor.

After that, we went inside and scrutineered, that is, watched the voties being counted. It was interesting, not too time-consuming, and had a much more friendly atmosphere than I'd thought it would have. And after that, we went to Anne Eckstein (MP for Ferntree Gully)'s office to sit around, eating and drinking and watching the election coverage on telly.

Well, I guess the bad news has to happen sometime - although Labor won the election, Peter Lockwood, the current Labor MP ruling my electorate (Bayswater) lost... so now we are stuck with (prepare for the name) "Heidi Victoria". No joke, that's her name. I ask you, why not just go the whole hog and name yourself "Wonderwoman Australia" or "Cleopatra Melbourne"... sheesh. Also, Anne Eckstein, the awesome MP who comes along to the Boronia ALP branch meetings is probably still in "electoral purgatory"... as you can see from the Victorian Electoral Commission website (http://www.vec.vic.gov.au/closestseats.html), she is locked in the absolute closest possible battle to the death with her Liberal arch-nemesis, Nick Wakeling. Carn Anne!! Yeaah! You can win!! (At the time of writing this, she is ahead by 0.1%).

Also, at a federal level, we have a new Labor Party leader... Kevin Rudd! (With his cool deputy Julia Gillard). Much as Kim Beazley is a clever guy, a good politician and a formidable leader of the party, he just isn't as cool as the Rudd-Gillard team... on the The Age newspaper online poll that I just did, of the 6643 people who voted on the poll, 76% say that Kevin Rudd can defeat Little Johnny Howard at the next election! Boo-yah!!

In other, non-boring-and-confusing-Australian-political-nonsense-related news, did I mention that [Man With Stick] was great? The wonderful heaven-sent blessing that we call "summer holidays" means that I've been able to see my stick-bearing man more than once a week! Last week we went to the beach... THE BEACH!! I can't even remember the last time I went swimming at the beach... (> 4 years I think)... until last Tuesday when Andrew got the day off work and we went! It was such a wonderful day. Also we saw Saw 3, which was very scary and cool. But I know there's nothing worse than a bragging blog entry, so I won't go on... but oh man, my Andrew, he is awesome.

Living in Gumdrop House on Lollypop Lane

Yes, I am beset by happy happenings lately... the wonderful (and gorgeous!) [Man With Stick] (that's Andrew... YES, he joined Elftown!!) gave me a present to celebrate uni finishing for the year - The Sims 2 University! Now I know for sure I won't miss going to uni because I'll still sort of be at uni! ... And you think that's good? Multiply it by about 75, because that's the number of CDs of games that the aforementioned [Man With Stick] has lent me and [Nebsy]!! Games! Games out the wazoo! Including Unreal Tournament 2004, System Shock II, Age of Empires II, Baldur's Gate (original!), Icewind Dale, Half Life, and millions more. Oh boy, am I ever a happy Yoss lately.

In other fantasteriffic news, I have been doing all the things I said I'd do in my last blog entry... baking hundreds of shortbreads, writing poems, chatting (not enough! Sorry!), doing a bit of extra work, and, of course, shopping. And oh, how good it was to go shopping. I at last got a belt that I'd been wanting for a few months and needing for even longer. So it looks like Her Majesty Queen Perpetual Ass Crack's reign has come to an end! ( Y ) Also, Nebs and I have been able to go to church on Wednesday now that uni's out... we are usually the youngest ones there, by about 30 years. o.0 Also I've been entering a few Elftown competitions... the portrait contest and the mood icon contest! Boy, I hope I win SOMETHING at last. Also, I've helped to make Elftown a better place! No, I haven't ridded this sweet town of the cruel and undemocratic wiki-ratings, but I have made comments on diary entries more see-able by making a suggestions in the *gasp* suggestions forum! Aaaah! A forum! So next time you leave a comment on someone's diary entry in their guestbook, there'll be a little button that says "show comments" under the diary entry. Aren't I just the best? *batts eyelashes*

The Victorian State Election is on this Saturday... Andrew will also be handing out how-to-vote cards and watching the vote count. Boy, I hope we win. How can Labor not win? Look at all the wonderful things they've done for our state.

And remember, my good tlhIngan Hol-speaking (Klingon-speaking) friends residing in Victoria...

nepmey Dujatlh Ted'a' Davoqbe'
woQ bInobbe' ghom Liberal
pISaH ghom Labor

(Big Ted speaks lies to you, don't trust him, don't give the Liberal Party political power, the Labor Party cares about you.)

_{I just had to use those somewhere...}

YEAH!!

Putting the 'Dying' back in 'Studying'!
_{Today we'll be learning about paragraph linkage in a bid to make my blog more educational!}

Yep, I've been reading lector notes and writing deathinitions... aaaand that's all I've got in terms of both-horror-and-study themed words. But yeah, my guzams are on the 8th and 9th of November, so it's really cram-time for Chaos considering I missed a few lectures and didn't do any of the reading. *Sigh*. Fortunately, the study is going well, albeit punctuated by dates with Andrew, Neopets flash games, occasional poems and downloading stacks of music.

Which, demonstrating paragraph linkage brings me to my next point... my absence from MSN. Yes, I know I've been very bad... "How can she have time for ET and blog, dates, Neopets flash games, poems and music, and yet not have time to chat to me?" I hear you ask. Well, the answer is quite simple. For one thing, the "breaks" I have from study (which I use for the above mentioned pursuits, except dates of course) are rarely longer than 20 minutes. Thus it would be one of those "hello-goodbye" chats, in which the other person treads on the Nail of Offense no matter how I have tried to hammer it safely into the Plank of Genuine Excuses. Also (I hypothesise here) due to what seems like the entire works of every band ever to exist taking up residence on my computer, my internet is doing what it and drug-addicted uni students do best - dropping out. Which makes MSN chats hard, as every time it does this, it signs me out of MSN. And now with guzams poised to strike (and my aforementioned laziness in keeping up to date with lectures and reading) I have to spend every spare minute studying. Sorry! Unless the evil forces known as Work commandeer me after guzams, I should be on MSN more often then.

And now, demonstrating no paragraph linkage whatsoever, I should take this moment to brag about the fact that me, Andrew, [Nebsy] and [damn_deleted] went to see The Dudesons ("Who?" you ask? Put simply: Finnish Jackass) movie yesterday in the city, and it was great. There were 2 actual Dudesons there too! I gave the movie 4 stars out of 5... Good, but not as good as Jackass... the movie had a more retrospective feel to it ("we did this stunt" instead of "we're doing this stunt"), and although it was nice they introduced all four Dudesons, I couldn't for the life of me tell them apart. It also didn't help they all have names starting with J. Still, great movie, cool stunts, very funny. See clips of them doing stunts from the movie at www.dudesons.com.

Well, speaking of painful and extreme stunts (and thus demonstrating paragraph linkage) I must get back to the study and continue reading psych lectures. I'm learning about knowledge representation... oh, why do I keep procrastinating? Must study. Must study… must study is an interesting phrase that connotes urgency in it’s two-word structure. The repetition of it in this context… *hits self over head with keyboard*.

Feelin' Patriotic

Nebs and I have just made over sixty Anzac biscuits! :D For all those unfamiliar with the deliciousness that is Anzac biscuits, Anzac stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps, and by biscuits we mean cookies. Basically these big, flat, deliciously sweet biscuits made with oats and golden syrup. (Wikipedia it if you want the recipe!) And of course, as one usually feels after making one of the three Australian sweet recipes (pavlova, lamingtons or Anzacs) I'm feeling just a little patriotic.

It is nice to take a moment to reflect on just how awesome Australia actually is... (something I sadly didn't realise until I became online friends with Americans. Oooh, sorry!). We have free doctors, interest free student loans, kick-ass cool animals and brill scenery. Summer is long and good, winter isn't that wintery and no matter where you live here, there's always some sort of a beach (unless you live in, like, the outback). We have cool accents. We have multiculturalism. We have national identity. We have thongs. We have Nick Cave. We have footy, Vegemite, shark-teeth necklaces and almost constant barbecues. Granted we might also have a John Howard here and there, an Amanda Vanstone or two and the occasional Shane Warne, but at the end of the day, Australia rocks. Now I'm not saying that there aren't other countries out there that rock too... America has a half decent movie industry, the Netherlands has pot, Japan has anime, Canada has gay marriage and Finland has free university... but I'm just saying that to me, no other country could ever be as cool as Australia.

And on that note, I must go and eat more Anzac biscuits... oh, I feel more like I'm in the trenches with every bite!

Woe Is Not Me

Nebs dyed my hair black! Black as the ace of spades! Permanent, too! But woe is most definitely not me, oh no. Unless by woe you mean indescribable happiness! :D

Where to start, where to start... Well, Kyneton was rockingly awesometacular. The three days Andrew and Pezza were on holiday with us were great - we walked, went swimming and spa-ing (especially spa-ing), went to Bendigo, played Uno and Scrabble together (with our good friend Mister Al Cohol), went canoeing, chased ducks, and lots of other stuff! And then when The Boys™ went home, Nebs and I totally overdosed on the exercise. We swam 30 laps twice, went bike riding, walked into town from the resort (which is a few km's), built another cubby, played minigolf and went shopping. Here's a photygraph of me and me hearties sailin' the high seas of the lake at the resort. Arrr!


(Left to right: Pezza, Nebsy, Andrew, me.)

And then on the day we came home from Kyneton, Andrew and I went to his friend's birthday party, and then the day after that we went to the Show (for all you non-Melburnians, that is the Royal Melbourne Show, where "the country comes to the city", and they have rides, food, showbags, stalls, animals on display, farm-related stuff and music and events). We went on some great rides and saw heaps of cute, cute, cute animals. I bought a Cadbury Chockettes showbag to share with Nebs. It was all in all just an awesome, wonderful day... although it seems like every day with Andrew is a wonderful day.

And since then? Well, as you can probably tell from my absence from Elftown / absence from MSN / the absence of replies to any emails you've sent me, I've been busy catching up on all the homework I couldn't do while I was on holiday. Today I finished a lab report worth 30% of my Psychology mark, and Nebs and I had a nice day wandering around Monash Uni since I went in on my day off to hand it in.

Also, dearest readers, I hate to brag (well, okay, I love to brag), but I recently finished the official best picture I've ever actually drawn in photoshop... it's a picture of my ET house, that is, if it were really a building, for the ET house art competition, and it took absolutely freaking ages. Fortunately the result was worth it, but the problem with ET contests is that no matter how good you are, there's always going to be someone either better at art than you, or with a big fat expensive graphics tablet and thousands of dollars worth of imaging software. *Sighs* Woe is me after all. But still, wrap your eyes around this!


(Click to enlarge)

So what's on the agenda for the next few weeks? Finishing the last few classes of the year at uni, finishing an essay, and then studying harder than a concrete soccer ball for my exams. But, more importantly, lots more Andrew Time! *Joy!*

SPRING BREAK!!!

Yes, I'm well aware that we don't actually call it "spring break" in Australia... it's the "mid-semester holidays", but I thought "SPRING BREAK!!!" more accurately describes how cool these holidays are going to be.
Tomorrow [Nebsy], I and our mum are going away on holiday, for a whole wonderful week, to Kyneton Bushland Resort. Oh, it's a glorious heaven of a place... we go there every year, and I never get sick of it. For those who haven't already been bombarded with plugs to this page, you can see the "bushland" part of the resort at Cubby Building. But this isn't just any ordinary holiday... [damn_deleted] is coming up with us tomorrow, and tomorrow night, my wonderful Andrew will be joining us! The Boys™ as they shall henceforth be known, will be with us from Friday night to sometime on Monday! :D Ohhh, it's going to be awesome. And to compound the coolness, my mum has somehow got a hold of a digital video camera, so as soon as one of us grows the nouse to actually read how to make it work, we'll have video footage of our brilltastical holiday.

The down side to this joyous getaway amongst kangaroos, possums, trees and free pool and spa, is that I lose the whole one-week break from uni, the week that most people spend solidly doing their homework. So this kind of explains why I haven't been on Elftown or MSN much lately, it's because I've been trying to cram a week's worth of homework into the few spare minutes I can scrounge between uni, work, dates, TV, food and constant phone calls. So, *looks around accusingly, finger raised in condemnation* if you're somehow still offended by my absence, and stupid enough to let me know, then you'll get yours in the form of a semi-cryptic, hilarious poem uploaded onto ET that takes the mickey out of all your bad points. *Nods conclusively*.
(And I should probably mention that the fact that I'm going on holiday for a week means that I'm actually not going to be on ET or MSN for a week. So if you send me a message tomorrow, it's not going to get replied to for at least a week. Just in case anyone was unclear on that point.)

Aside from doing everything in my power to get ready for the wondrous holiday, Nebs and I went shopping... oh it was good, I got some new clothes and makeup at last. And might I take this moment to complain about the clothing colours that are currently "in" for girls... that awful blue colour, paired with red and white... gross. You'd want to run the clothes up a flagpole, not wear them. Needless to say everything I bought was black! :D Also, I've been enjoying some wonderful dates with Andrew... he really is amazing. Last weekend we went to Geelong, and it was great... I haven't been there for about a year, and it was really nice. I made a panorama out of photos I took! Have a look-see...



Anyway, cheerio for now, I'll be back with great stories of the immense fun that happened on the holiday! :D

Good News Everyone!

Grrr, damn me for writing such a witty blog entry last time! How can I match up to that many metaphors?
Anyway, in keeping with the title, I have a long list of good news, longer than the wait on a junior burger at McDonalds! So we'll start with the least-cool news...

My Grandpa died. Now, while that's not usually good news, to be fair, he was 85, had lived a long, full life, died a quick and painless death (much better than months of suffering in hospital) and was a widower. But wait, I'm getting to the good bit. He was an absolute chocoholic and junk food junkie. And one can't have all that chocolate and various other wonderful foods just going to waste, now can one? So, needless to say, our family has "inherited" a rather large quantity of various sweet food... two packets of chocolate-coated icecreams, two tubs of gourmet icecream (one chocolate, one caramel fudge), two bags of Maltesers, a packet of shortbread, a bottle of maple syrup (and not the crummy stuff either, the good stuff, made in actual Canada), some hot chocolate drink making stuff and a jar of mint jelly. And a few bottles of grog. But who knows, maybe there is more? As [Nebsy] so tactfully put it, "I don't usually like to compare someone's death to Christmas... but MERRY CHRISTMAS!!"

In other good news...

Futurama's on telly... five days a week! Ohh, it's glorious... so much TV! Also my "artism" has kicked in, and I've been writing a few poems, and working on my entry for the Elftown Desktop Design Contest (theme: forest). Also, the other day while I was wandering randomly down a corridor in the Biology and Psychology building at uni, I discovered tank upon tank of pretty, tropical fish and little green frogs. Oh yes, they have a date with my camera on Thursday, yes they do. Speaking of uni, it's been chugging along as normal... today I did a talk on online dating for Sociology, and, if I may say so myself, I rather pwned it good. It was a group talk, and all my group were super good too, and well prepared! Possibly the nicest group I've ever worked with. And boy, it was fun to talk about something I know heaps of stuff about. Good ol' online dating... which brings me to my next point...

ANDREW!! The wonderful, wonderful man I mentioned in my last blog entry (quite immaturely using a KFC chicken metaphor to describe his coolness, sorry about that!) and I are now officially a couple... we've had some awesome dates with lots of fun activities, including a picnic in the hills, seeing Kenny (a brill movie if you like toilet humour, which I do), having dinner at each other's places, going to Scienceworks with [Nebsy] and [damn_deleted] and the thing I liked best, going for a walk to the national park near his house at night. It was absolutely magical. Andrew really is awesome, good looking, patient, so sweet and romantic, but at the same time funny and clever. Basically everything I could ever hope for, with no drawbacks. I haven't cried in weeks, no fooling, weeks.