I have decided to take a proactive approach to digging myself out of this rut of gloom. I am fully aware that given my current state of apathy this may be a little ambitious, but you've gotta reach for the stars right?
Firstly fitness, or lack thereof. I will join the Carlton Baths as soon as I get paid out from Salesforce. In the interim I'm going to give one of those pilates DVDs a shot. There's something that I don't like about them, I'm not sure what, but I figured I needed to start while I'm still keen.
Today is not a good day for cycling. I discovered this as I rode to the shops to get some notebooks for uni and the aforementioned DVD. It was rather windy and I was getting blown across the road a little. Perhaps if I get fit I can gain some weight and not be so easily swayed by the wind.
I also returned the DVDs that I'd hired last week and got some new ones that I'm looking forward to watching. I bought Closer from our video store for a bargain $19.95 and it's barely scratched! Love the language of that film. Some really great lines. Damn I'm glad I bought that!
Anyway... due to a miscalculation in funds transfers I've got to wait till tomorrow to buy my textbook and despite my fast reading skills I'm concerned that I'll be behind in my first week of studying Myth in the Ancient world. I've actually got readings to do for that subject. Two chapters. I'm hoping they're short... I've tried searching the libraries in Victoria but no one seems to have it.
I'm expecting a plumber to show up at any moment now. Would you believe that our hot water has died again?
On the bright side I've discovered that I can go to the Melbourne City Baths and have a swim, spa, sauna and a shower for just under $15.
Time for some food and cleaning. I can barely see the desk at the moment and studying in the kitchen is bad for me. Too much food!
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Monday, August 29, 2005
Wallowing
Today has been a little emotionally challenging and for once I seem to be soothing my day with a delicious icy cold glass of Bailey's & milk - even though I can't really drink much milk and I'm feeling kinda cold.
It started off as most days have lately, a struggle to wake up and not feel exhausted. I've decided that when I eventually get back to being able to fall asleep at night my moods should settle down. I'm also trying to get some more exercise because that usually perks people up too.
I ended up jumping out of bed pretty excited because today's my first day back at uni. I logged into all of my subjects and read the course guidelines and I'm even a week ahead for the legal framework readings. Admittedly that's because Week 1's reading was about how to study so I felt an urge to get a bit of a headstart considering I'll probably be behind for Myth in the Ancient World because I've got to get the textbook sent from SA. I called most of the bookshops in Melbourne this morning in an attempt to get a copy of said textbook but to no avail. I'm quietly confident that I'll do well with Legal Framework. It's kind of exciting. Always had a vague interest in law.
I even achieved my task list for today, lodging our tax returns and cleaning Herman's cage. Herman's a little confused because his cage usually smells faintly of citrus after it's been cleaned but we've changed to a vanilla scented cleaner as it's "food safe" and less strong smelling. It was exciting today when he let me pick him up without too much fuss. He's a good rat that one. I think he's having fun re-decorating his new hammock. He'd chewed the back out of the old one that Mum made him. I don't think she'll be thrilled.
So why am I melancholy? Of the three of us who applied for a tech job I'm the only one without an interview. I'm really happy for my friends but as I don't have much to fill my days at the moment I'm feeling a little down. Doesn't help that they're both boys and I always feel exceedingly female when applying for tech jobs. Anyhow I've decided to indulge my wallowing in disappointment for tonight and tonight only. Tomorrow it's all smiles and moving forward. I'm definitely going to go for my first aid again and test and tag as soon as my tax return comes in. I'm going to be the best damn tech that I can be and I know that I can get a job doing so. Failing that I'll work towards my own theatre and make my own work.
Well, I'm going to make the most of my wallowing time :)
It started off as most days have lately, a struggle to wake up and not feel exhausted. I've decided that when I eventually get back to being able to fall asleep at night my moods should settle down. I'm also trying to get some more exercise because that usually perks people up too.
I ended up jumping out of bed pretty excited because today's my first day back at uni. I logged into all of my subjects and read the course guidelines and I'm even a week ahead for the legal framework readings. Admittedly that's because Week 1's reading was about how to study so I felt an urge to get a bit of a headstart considering I'll probably be behind for Myth in the Ancient World because I've got to get the textbook sent from SA. I called most of the bookshops in Melbourne this morning in an attempt to get a copy of said textbook but to no avail. I'm quietly confident that I'll do well with Legal Framework. It's kind of exciting. Always had a vague interest in law.
I even achieved my task list for today, lodging our tax returns and cleaning Herman's cage. Herman's a little confused because his cage usually smells faintly of citrus after it's been cleaned but we've changed to a vanilla scented cleaner as it's "food safe" and less strong smelling. It was exciting today when he let me pick him up without too much fuss. He's a good rat that one. I think he's having fun re-decorating his new hammock. He'd chewed the back out of the old one that Mum made him. I don't think she'll be thrilled.
So why am I melancholy? Of the three of us who applied for a tech job I'm the only one without an interview. I'm really happy for my friends but as I don't have much to fill my days at the moment I'm feeling a little down. Doesn't help that they're both boys and I always feel exceedingly female when applying for tech jobs. Anyhow I've decided to indulge my wallowing in disappointment for tonight and tonight only. Tomorrow it's all smiles and moving forward. I'm definitely going to go for my first aid again and test and tag as soon as my tax return comes in. I'm going to be the best damn tech that I can be and I know that I can get a job doing so. Failing that I'll work towards my own theatre and make my own work.
Well, I'm going to make the most of my wallowing time :)
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Blah
Arrived home a little early this morning after dinner and a long chat with the Nic(k)s, Kim, Jodie and Claire after Nick's birthday dinner. Pity I'm still on my P's the wine smelt great.
Slept in and woke up alone and even lazier than usual. Ended up reading more of Ilium until I finally just had to get out of bed. It was a gorgeous day out so I sat on the wing chair outside and read in the "fresh" air until it started to cool down. Gene arrived home for his nap between shifts and we had lamb briyani for dinner.
I've slept heaps today and still feel exhausted and a little under the weather. I think my hayfever is coming back into play. I'm torn between wanting to finish (yet another) scarf that I started recently and reading my book.
However I'm determined to drag myself out of the house and be sociable tonight and get to both Dom's birthday drinks and Mudfest to visit Gene and perhaps grab a drink or two.
While I had every intention of writing about interesting things I think I'd better get a move on and get to those drinks before I get too lazy to cycle down there.
Slept in and woke up alone and even lazier than usual. Ended up reading more of Ilium until I finally just had to get out of bed. It was a gorgeous day out so I sat on the wing chair outside and read in the "fresh" air until it started to cool down. Gene arrived home for his nap between shifts and we had lamb briyani for dinner.
I've slept heaps today and still feel exhausted and a little under the weather. I think my hayfever is coming back into play. I'm torn between wanting to finish (yet another) scarf that I started recently and reading my book.
However I'm determined to drag myself out of the house and be sociable tonight and get to both Dom's birthday drinks and Mudfest to visit Gene and perhaps grab a drink or two.
While I had every intention of writing about interesting things I think I'd better get a move on and get to those drinks before I get too lazy to cycle down there.
Friday, August 26, 2005
Luke Warm
I started watching Angels in America last night and got all the way to chapter 2 when the DVD froze. It was struggling a bit with layer changes but then it just refused to work. I've now watched half of chapter to a x32 speed at least three times. It's still quite a pretty watch then. I suppose that started a bit of a trend after that.
This morning when Gene got up to have a shower he came back to say the water was great for a couple of minutes before it died down to cold water and never heated up again. I tested this theory and found that while I didn't get cold water it was just luke-warm again. I'm hoping the day improves.
I was going to get my next textbook, or at least try today, but have decided to hold off till Monday due to financial reasons (namely my banking transfer didn't work and I need to get petrol for tonight). I'm not too fussed though. I'm sure the State Library of Victoria will have a copy of it somewhere.
It's funny how I don't really feel down but reading through my post so far it's coming across that I am. I'm feeling apathetic today so I suppose that's what's coming across.
Anyhow, I'll write later when I've done some stuff. I'm accutely aware that a trip to the bank is required today and time is of the essence.
This morning when Gene got up to have a shower he came back to say the water was great for a couple of minutes before it died down to cold water and never heated up again. I tested this theory and found that while I didn't get cold water it was just luke-warm again. I'm hoping the day improves.
I was going to get my next textbook, or at least try today, but have decided to hold off till Monday due to financial reasons (namely my banking transfer didn't work and I need to get petrol for tonight). I'm not too fussed though. I'm sure the State Library of Victoria will have a copy of it somewhere.
It's funny how I don't really feel down but reading through my post so far it's coming across that I am. I'm feeling apathetic today so I suppose that's what's coming across.
Anyhow, I'll write later when I've done some stuff. I'm accutely aware that a trip to the bank is required today and time is of the essence.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Hot water, textbooks and comments
Hazaar! We have hot water again! Okay, we always had warm water (which is better than some people have I know) but today the lovely plumber came and fixed our hot water system so we now have decent water pressure AND lovely hot water. It was amazing, he just turned a couple of knobs and hey presto we had scorchingly hot water. I can't wait to have a shower tonight. It'll be the first time in a week and a half since we've been able to use the cold tap in the shower.
Double hazaar because I got two comments on/from my blog in the last two days. I feel all special now!
Suddenly I'm concerned with my spelling of hazaar but I've been finding that I'm not confident in my spelling at all lately and Dictionary.Com isn't working as well as it usually does... it's just not loading!
Anyhoo, today has been less productive than I would have liked but I'm on strict order by Gene not to crochet until the pain goes away (damn sensible boyfriend). So having nothing better to occupy my time with I was just going to have a lazy-in-bed-reading day until I realised that I start uni on Monday and have no textbooks from which to study. I was about to dash out the door when my phone rang. It was the wonderful plumber trying to arrange a time to come and fix our hot water. It was destined that I would have to get out of bed today. So I sprinted out the door even faster and jumped on the second tram that I saw (the first tram I watched as it left the stop as I arrived). Due to the Anti-VSU protests a the trams were diverted from their usual travels. But more on the VSU later. I visited three bookshops for two textbooks and arrived home with just one textbook and a case for my Palm (yay!).
Today I relieved the joy that is being broke after buying your textbooks. It's my first "serious" textbook in a while... Australian Business Law. Part of me considered getting the study book that goes with it but the $60+ price tag dissuaded me.
Okay VSU. While I'm not a student who's going to a physical university campus, I strongly believe that the services supported through the payment of these general service fees are incredibly important to the well-being and enjoyment of students at universities. I suppose it's hard for some people to see the services that are supported through these fees, but I certainly wouldn't have gotten to where I am now without them. When I was at Monash I was a highly active member of the Clubs & Societies (mainly the theatre ones, but I did join a couple of others), I saw the counsellors, took advantage of the medical facilities more than once, enjoyed having many serves of nachos at the various food places and that's just the things that I can think of off the top of my head. Oh wait, there's the whole student union fighting for friends who, due to an admin bungle, had not received their re-enrolment details and then when they went to challenge it on the date specified in the student diary (another subsidised resource might I add) were told that the date printed was incorrect and they were no longer a student there. Hundreds of students were affected by this, but with the support of the union and their legal staff these students were re-instated. Without the extra-curricular activities students are really missing out on what makes uni the "best time of your life". I still remember when I was in first year uni I caught up with some friends from highschool and we were talking about our experiences at Monash & Melbourne Unis. I mentioned that I'd made lots of new friends through the Clubs & Societies while my friends who hadn't really looked into it yet were just heading to class and back home and wondering what all the fuss was about. Yes, you're at uni to study and hopefully that means studying something you're passionate about, but when you get out into the wonderful scary "real world" you need other things to make your life complete. Hobbies, socialising, outside interests to help you wind down after a busy and sometimes stressful day at work. These interests set you apart from others when you look for work or even just when you're meeting people. Clubs & societies at Monash provided me with the opportunity to explore different enviroments and activities. I really with that I'd taken advantage of things like the Skydiving club. While students should be given the choice of how to spend their money, I think that a general fee to maintain these services and give students the choice of using these services is crucial to maintaining student life and culture. Like they said in the meeting I attended earlier in the year, think of it as if it's personal tax, it helps to support the infrastructure that we enjoy in our everyday lives. It's a matter of the greater good versus the self.
Okay I'm almost done with the ranting... While I'm really excited about going back to study. There's no way it's going to be as fun without the other stuff to keep life interesting. I'll definitely miss ambling down the corridor to Student Theatre to see who was there and who was free to grab some food/coffee.
Herman's loudly crunching away at his kibble which is a signal that he wants to be fed. So I'd better do so before he starts throwing a tantrum (it's amazing how much noise a rat can make with one food dish).
Yay for hot water, textbooks and comments!
Double hazaar because I got two comments on/from my blog in the last two days. I feel all special now!
Suddenly I'm concerned with my spelling of hazaar but I've been finding that I'm not confident in my spelling at all lately and Dictionary.Com isn't working as well as it usually does... it's just not loading!
Anyhoo, today has been less productive than I would have liked but I'm on strict order by Gene not to crochet until the pain goes away (damn sensible boyfriend). So having nothing better to occupy my time with I was just going to have a lazy-in-bed-reading day until I realised that I start uni on Monday and have no textbooks from which to study. I was about to dash out the door when my phone rang. It was the wonderful plumber trying to arrange a time to come and fix our hot water. It was destined that I would have to get out of bed today. So I sprinted out the door even faster and jumped on the second tram that I saw (the first tram I watched as it left the stop as I arrived). Due to the Anti-VSU protests a the trams were diverted from their usual travels. But more on the VSU later. I visited three bookshops for two textbooks and arrived home with just one textbook and a case for my Palm (yay!).
Today I relieved the joy that is being broke after buying your textbooks. It's my first "serious" textbook in a while... Australian Business Law. Part of me considered getting the study book that goes with it but the $60+ price tag dissuaded me.
Okay VSU. While I'm not a student who's going to a physical university campus, I strongly believe that the services supported through the payment of these general service fees are incredibly important to the well-being and enjoyment of students at universities. I suppose it's hard for some people to see the services that are supported through these fees, but I certainly wouldn't have gotten to where I am now without them. When I was at Monash I was a highly active member of the Clubs & Societies (mainly the theatre ones, but I did join a couple of others), I saw the counsellors, took advantage of the medical facilities more than once, enjoyed having many serves of nachos at the various food places and that's just the things that I can think of off the top of my head. Oh wait, there's the whole student union fighting for friends who, due to an admin bungle, had not received their re-enrolment details and then when they went to challenge it on the date specified in the student diary (another subsidised resource might I add) were told that the date printed was incorrect and they were no longer a student there. Hundreds of students were affected by this, but with the support of the union and their legal staff these students were re-instated. Without the extra-curricular activities students are really missing out on what makes uni the "best time of your life". I still remember when I was in first year uni I caught up with some friends from highschool and we were talking about our experiences at Monash & Melbourne Unis. I mentioned that I'd made lots of new friends through the Clubs & Societies while my friends who hadn't really looked into it yet were just heading to class and back home and wondering what all the fuss was about. Yes, you're at uni to study and hopefully that means studying something you're passionate about, but when you get out into the wonderful scary "real world" you need other things to make your life complete. Hobbies, socialising, outside interests to help you wind down after a busy and sometimes stressful day at work. These interests set you apart from others when you look for work or even just when you're meeting people. Clubs & societies at Monash provided me with the opportunity to explore different enviroments and activities. I really with that I'd taken advantage of things like the Skydiving club. While students should be given the choice of how to spend their money, I think that a general fee to maintain these services and give students the choice of using these services is crucial to maintaining student life and culture. Like they said in the meeting I attended earlier in the year, think of it as if it's personal tax, it helps to support the infrastructure that we enjoy in our everyday lives. It's a matter of the greater good versus the self.
Okay I'm almost done with the ranting... While I'm really excited about going back to study. There's no way it's going to be as fun without the other stuff to keep life interesting. I'll definitely miss ambling down the corridor to Student Theatre to see who was there and who was free to grab some food/coffee.
Herman's loudly crunching away at his kibble which is a signal that he wants to be fed. So I'd better do so before he starts throwing a tantrum (it's amazing how much noise a rat can make with one food dish).
Yay for hot water, textbooks and comments!
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Stuff
I have succumbed to the wonder that is the eBook/eReader on my Palm. I started reading The Time Machine on my palm, just because it was there really and then before I knew it I was searching for other eBooks and now have The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce (everyone should read this one), The Story of My Life by Helen Keller (which I have already read in the traditional book format), Full-Blooded Fantasy (a collection of short fantasy stories I think) and The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley on there as well.
Yesterday I was incredibly awake... I woke up at 5:30am with Gene and couldn't sleep till 1am this morning. Today however I woke Gene up at 5:30am (well, the Palm woke us both) and after he left I fell back asleep (a first in weeks) and proceeded to sleep unhindered until 1pm. Apparently I'm not good with compromise on my sleeping habits. So while I achieved several things yesterday, today's to-do list will have to carry over to tomorrow.
I ended up hiring some DVDs yesterday figuring that I should occupy myself with something while I crocheted. In the end I got Closer which I watched yesterday and loved, Gosford Park, Angels in America (which I've only seen the last part of on tele) and Intimate Strangers. I tried watching Gosford Park last night too but I was a little too tired to follow the characters, plus I was distracted my an overwhelming urge to cook dinner. So I think I'll finish watching the movie now.
Yesterday I was incredibly awake... I woke up at 5:30am with Gene and couldn't sleep till 1am this morning. Today however I woke Gene up at 5:30am (well, the Palm woke us both) and after he left I fell back asleep (a first in weeks) and proceeded to sleep unhindered until 1pm. Apparently I'm not good with compromise on my sleeping habits. So while I achieved several things yesterday, today's to-do list will have to carry over to tomorrow.
I ended up hiring some DVDs yesterday figuring that I should occupy myself with something while I crocheted. In the end I got Closer which I watched yesterday and loved, Gosford Park, Angels in America (which I've only seen the last part of on tele) and Intimate Strangers. I tried watching Gosford Park last night too but I was a little too tired to follow the characters, plus I was distracted my an overwhelming urge to cook dinner. So I think I'll finish watching the movie now.
RSI
Stupid RSI. I'm in the mood to write today however my enthusiasm to finish crocheting my rug/blanket has rendered me in pain (my wrist/forearm is playing up again). Now if I was sensible I'd see the doctor (last time this happened he said I did good by coming and getting it treated because if left untreated, the inflamed tissue could scar causing permanent damage) however I'm lazy and between walking to the video store and the doctor... Well let's just say I'm looking forward to watching Gosford Park!
I went shopping today to buy actual food to cook (as opposed the the usual junk Gene & I buy). Speaking of junk food, Gene's decided he's not allowed to eat chicken munchies any more because they make him sick. I'm glad he's finally seen the link. These chicken munchies secreted juices that stained our nice white baking dish permanently. I doubt they can be good for you!
Having bought some actual food I've done some cooking. This is an achievement for me. Aside from the sore arm which makes it a little harder, I have a tendency to not cook/eat if there's only myself at home (just can't be bothered usually). Today I made a large (4L) stock pot of soup, minestrone-esque in style and caramel date pudding. The smell of the pudding is permeating the house and I'm trying very hard to save it until Gene comes home to cut it... trying being the operative!
Loving the Palm still. Enjoying writing lots of notes and lists and appointments (like try and help Naomi move house on the 11th September). Discovered I can even keep notes on conversations with people in a history folder... Solitare is good too. Okay. Arm hurts and ibuprofen hasn't kicked in yet. Ouch. I go.
I went shopping today to buy actual food to cook (as opposed the the usual junk Gene & I buy). Speaking of junk food, Gene's decided he's not allowed to eat chicken munchies any more because they make him sick. I'm glad he's finally seen the link. These chicken munchies secreted juices that stained our nice white baking dish permanently. I doubt they can be good for you!
Having bought some actual food I've done some cooking. This is an achievement for me. Aside from the sore arm which makes it a little harder, I have a tendency to not cook/eat if there's only myself at home (just can't be bothered usually). Today I made a large (4L) stock pot of soup, minestrone-esque in style and caramel date pudding. The smell of the pudding is permeating the house and I'm trying very hard to save it until Gene comes home to cut it... trying being the operative!
Loving the Palm still. Enjoying writing lots of notes and lists and appointments (like try and help Naomi move house on the 11th September). Discovered I can even keep notes on conversations with people in a history folder... Solitare is good too. Okay. Arm hurts and ibuprofen hasn't kicked in yet. Ouch. I go.
Monday, August 22, 2005
Sleepy Still
What a great, if somewhat sleepless weekend! Saturday night was great fun. After a short nap in Geelong we got ready for the party. It's always odd going to a 21st when you only know a few people. Being the small world that it is, it turned out that one of Loz's friends used to go to high school with me! So there was a bit of catching up that night and a little dancing. We're a little (okay a lot) out of practice with our swing dancing so we're planning to rectify this by going to class tonight. Hopefully there's room on the dance floor for the class! I've heard they're packed right now.
Sunday morning saw us watching old videos of Gene when he was two, not sure how that came about... but he was such a cute two year old! Then we had lunch before heading off to my parents house to catch up with Mum & Dad. Picked up my pretty new Palm and have been playing with it almost non-stop since I've synchronised it with my computer. Tee hee hee... pretty. So I'm slowly updating addresses, birthdays etc. It's great.
This morning has been less fun so far, although I've managed to achieve one thing on my to do list today. We'll be able to recycle plastic and glass in 48 working hours according to the lady on the phone. Gene & I decided to trial the alarm on the Palm this morning as we woke up to the tune, can't remember the name of it, that you hear played on a bugle before a hunt.
I'd write more but I'm too distracted with trying to find software for my Palm so perhaps I'll have to write later.
Sunday morning saw us watching old videos of Gene when he was two, not sure how that came about... but he was such a cute two year old! Then we had lunch before heading off to my parents house to catch up with Mum & Dad. Picked up my pretty new Palm and have been playing with it almost non-stop since I've synchronised it with my computer. Tee hee hee... pretty. So I'm slowly updating addresses, birthdays etc. It's great.
This morning has been less fun so far, although I've managed to achieve one thing on my to do list today. We'll be able to recycle plastic and glass in 48 working hours according to the lady on the phone. Gene & I decided to trial the alarm on the Palm this morning as we woke up to the tune, can't remember the name of it, that you hear played on a bugle before a hunt.
I'd write more but I'm too distracted with trying to find software for my Palm so perhaps I'll have to write later.
Saturday, August 20, 2005
Sarah shall sleep no more!
Apparently I'm doomed to not sleep through the night for a while. For the last week I haven't slept through an entire night, but keep waking every two hours, three if I'm lucky. I'm tired and I just can't seem to get enough sleep.
It is giving me a great amount of reading time though. I'm coasting through Ilium at the moment and I really want all my myth/legend loving friends to read it. In fact all my literary friends... I think they'd really enjoy it! I'm loving the ideas that are coming through the novel and the story's fantastic to boot. It's making the sleepless nights more pleasant in some ways.
I discovered shortly after yesterday's post that I miscalculated on the wool front, turns out I only needed ten balls of wool so I picked them up today. I've got one ninth of the rug crocheted together and about half the squares I need. I just need to finish another square and I've got two rows (two ninths of the rug in a near finished state). I'd take a picture and post it but I'm too lazy.
Picked up my now good-as-new boots today. Apparently I'd broken the metal shanks that were supporting the arch of my foot with the heel and that's why they were wobbling a bit. Also turns out that the heels were falling off. Anyhow $80 later I have lovely to walk in boots again. The shoe repair guy suggested getting new shoes but I explained to him that I have rather small feet and shoes are hard to come by. The guy who I picked up the shoes from agreed with me and suggested that I should buy shoes overseas. It sucks being small sometimes! Kids shoes don't last and adult shoes don't fit. Oh well, at least I have shoes... well boots...
I'm slowly getting over my fear of shoe repair guys after the last nasty experience with a shoe repair guy (hereafter referred to as SRG) which ended with me having a chat with the police about him. I didn't freak out or have to bring Gene along with me. I even went to two different shoe repair places and conversed with one of them! Apparently my boots needed specialist attention. I'm still nervous that the same nasty SRG will suddenly appear behind the counter of the place I'm getting my shoes fixed at. Well not suddenly as much as appear... but I just don't want to see him ever again. So I guess it will take time before I'm not nervous at all around SRGs but it's a start.
The house is still relatively clean. Only some dishes to do that I should really be getting to except that we're leaving for Geelong soon. We've got a party tonight and I've got some nice new stockings that I'm fairly sure Gene will approve of... it's just a question of fish nets or sheer stockings. I wonder which he'll choose?
It is giving me a great amount of reading time though. I'm coasting through Ilium at the moment and I really want all my myth/legend loving friends to read it. In fact all my literary friends... I think they'd really enjoy it! I'm loving the ideas that are coming through the novel and the story's fantastic to boot. It's making the sleepless nights more pleasant in some ways.
I discovered shortly after yesterday's post that I miscalculated on the wool front, turns out I only needed ten balls of wool so I picked them up today. I've got one ninth of the rug crocheted together and about half the squares I need. I just need to finish another square and I've got two rows (two ninths of the rug in a near finished state). I'd take a picture and post it but I'm too lazy.
Picked up my now good-as-new boots today. Apparently I'd broken the metal shanks that were supporting the arch of my foot with the heel and that's why they were wobbling a bit. Also turns out that the heels were falling off. Anyhow $80 later I have lovely to walk in boots again. The shoe repair guy suggested getting new shoes but I explained to him that I have rather small feet and shoes are hard to come by. The guy who I picked up the shoes from agreed with me and suggested that I should buy shoes overseas. It sucks being small sometimes! Kids shoes don't last and adult shoes don't fit. Oh well, at least I have shoes... well boots...
I'm slowly getting over my fear of shoe repair guys after the last nasty experience with a shoe repair guy (hereafter referred to as SRG) which ended with me having a chat with the police about him. I didn't freak out or have to bring Gene along with me. I even went to two different shoe repair places and conversed with one of them! Apparently my boots needed specialist attention. I'm still nervous that the same nasty SRG will suddenly appear behind the counter of the place I'm getting my shoes fixed at. Well not suddenly as much as appear... but I just don't want to see him ever again. So I guess it will take time before I'm not nervous at all around SRGs but it's a start.
The house is still relatively clean. Only some dishes to do that I should really be getting to except that we're leaving for Geelong soon. We've got a party tonight and I've got some nice new stockings that I'm fairly sure Gene will approve of... it's just a question of fish nets or sheer stockings. I wonder which he'll choose?
Friday, August 19, 2005
Inspections and Dreams
Yay for the house inspection going well! Close call though. Gene & I both slept through the alarm this morning. The only reason I woke up was because of my bad dream, but more on that later. So we jumped out of bed, got dressed and was just about to drag Herman to the car when our buzzer rang. It was 10:40am. So Gene stashed Herman in our room with a blanket over him and his stuff while I went to get the door. Our real estate agent seemed about as awake as we were. Looked around slightly disinterestedly and asked if we had any maintenance issues. We conversed and about 7 minutes later she headed off.
Herman's now sitting behind me in his cage eating kibble. I think he likes our room because it's quieter than the living room.
As for the dream I had... that's what's making me feel sick. The last part of my dream involved me trying to take a multi-vitamin capsule but for some reason I just couldn't swallow it and I woke up choking. So now I'm feeling a little bit ill because I can't shake that feeling.
Okay, shopping time now!
Herman's now sitting behind me in his cage eating kibble. I think he likes our room because it's quieter than the living room.
As for the dream I had... that's what's making me feel sick. The last part of my dream involved me trying to take a multi-vitamin capsule but for some reason I just couldn't swallow it and I woke up choking. So now I'm feeling a little bit ill because I can't shake that feeling.
Okay, shopping time now!
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Rug Talk
The new chocolates that they've brought out for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are delicious! I'm limiting myself to a maximum of three piece per day. Well, I'm trying to anyway...
Still no success in the getting out of bed in the morning, except on Monday when I had that job interview. I think it's a total lack of discipline. That and I've always preferred to sleep late and rise late-ish. For some reason I'm still getting migraines even though I have been wearing my glasses when necessary, ahem, and I haven't even been reading much. Actually I've taken two days off reading and I'm now torn between finishing off the rug I'm crocheting (and by finishing I mean I'm only just over half way there) and picking up my book again. I think I'll keep going with the rug because I need to get more wool and it's a good excuse to get me out of the house.
The rug I'm making has 81 squares in total and should cover our queen size bed if I calculated correctly. It's mainly purple and blue squares, some solid and some mixed, and I'm planning to finish it off with a navy blue border. According to my calculations, I need fourteen more balls of wool to finish this rug. I could off course be somewhat wrong, but I think I'm fairly on track for this. Averaging about 1 square per hour when I get into it, closer to 1.25 hours per square right now because it's been a while since I've crocheted, I have 38 squares to go... which means I've only got 38-47.5 hours of crocheting to go... Potentially I could have this finished within a week if I really got into it... probably more reasonably within two unless I speed up. Hmm the possibilities.
Well, that rug's not going to make itself and I'm boring myself with the writing today so ciao!
Still no success in the getting out of bed in the morning, except on Monday when I had that job interview. I think it's a total lack of discipline. That and I've always preferred to sleep late and rise late-ish. For some reason I'm still getting migraines even though I have been wearing my glasses when necessary, ahem
The rug I'm making has 81 squares in total and should cover our queen size bed if I calculated correctly. It's mainly purple and blue squares, some solid and some mixed, and I'm planning to finish it off with a navy blue border. According to my calculations, I need fourteen more balls of wool to finish this rug. I could off course be somewhat wrong, but I think I'm fairly on track for this. Averaging about 1 square per hour when I get into it, closer to 1.25 hours per square right now because it's been a while since I've crocheted, I have 38 squares to go... which means I've only got 38-47.5 hours of crocheting to go... Potentially I could have this finished within a week if I really got into it... probably more reasonably within two unless I speed up. Hmm the possibilities.
Well, that rug's not going to make itself and I'm boring myself with the writing today so ciao!
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Floor and Sneezes
We have a floor! Okay, we've always had a floor here, but we have visible floor now! Sadly we also have the sneezes because of the dust we've kicked up in our cleaning frenzy today. All that's left of the cleaning is a good vacuum, sweep, mop of all the floors in our house and still more folding of clothes. There is a definite need for more shelving although I have no idea where it can go. I still haven't broached the subject with Gene yet although I think his only objection will be the lack of a good place to put a shelf. Our bedroom's looking like a good option unless we actually bite the bullet and get rid of our crappy old couch. Hmm...
I really don't think I like the way you end up with your picture staring back at you while you're posting. Seems rather narcissitic to me. I'm thinking I'll need to find a picture that's more of a representation if I'm going to keep blogging like this.
My spare time is abundant so this weekend I'm going to look into some web page editing software because I'm too darn lazy to write the code from scratch. My website is long overdue for renovations. I'm amazed that I'm still getting people signing my guestbook to be honest. Still, I'm a little sad that I have less pictures to post. I suppose I could probably aim to rectify that situation this weekend too!
I love pictures. That whole 1000 words thing works for me. It's odd though that I don't seem to take many pictures any more. After all I have a digital camera. I should be snap happy! I guess it's probably the lack of leaving the house that's holding me back right now. I'm looking forward to working on that soon. I was thinking of taking photos of Melbourne because I honestly don't have many of those.
The other thing I'm really looking forward to getting ready for my website is all the stuff I collated from my Yeh-Yeh (grandpa) about his experience of WWII in Malaysia. I've still got all the scanned pictures somewhere as well as the transcripts from our conversations almost 10 years ago. It's something that I'd really like to preserve and I've been meaning to write it up properly (my year 7 writing skills were rather lacking, thankfully my subject material made up for it a bit). I'd also like to contact the Australian War Memorial and look at showing them some of the material because I'm really proud of the fact that Yeh-Yeh went and took pictures during the war as a civilian because he thought it might be important. From what I remember there are pictures of the POW camp that was near his village. I also remember the fliers which were printed with one side money and the other side the message to let the people know the war was over. Both my grandparents speak mainly Cantonese and with each passing year I'm getting rustier. I think it's time I started writing this all down while I can still ask questions.
It's funny how I used to hate all this family stuff when I was little. Or at least I didn't really understand the cultural things. It used to just get in the way of my rather non-existant social life as far as I was concerned. I guess the older you get the "cooler" it is to have strange cultural rituals/beliefs/celebrations. It's probably the urge to belong as well as the need to have something to celebrate. Life can be pretty bleak so why not create a bit of a diversion and remember where you came from?
I really don't think I like the way you end up with your picture staring back at you while you're posting. Seems rather narcissitic to me. I'm thinking I'll need to find a picture that's more of a representation if I'm going to keep blogging like this.
My spare time is abundant so this weekend I'm going to look into some web page editing software because I'm too darn lazy to write the code from scratch. My website is long overdue for renovations. I'm amazed that I'm still getting people signing my guestbook to be honest. Still, I'm a little sad that I have less pictures to post. I suppose I could probably aim to rectify that situation this weekend too!
I love pictures. That whole 1000 words thing works for me. It's odd though that I don't seem to take many pictures any more. After all I have a digital camera. I should be snap happy! I guess it's probably the lack of leaving the house that's holding me back right now. I'm looking forward to working on that soon. I was thinking of taking photos of Melbourne because I honestly don't have many of those.
The other thing I'm really looking forward to getting ready for my website is all the stuff I collated from my Yeh-Yeh (grandpa) about his experience of WWII in Malaysia. I've still got all the scanned pictures somewhere as well as the transcripts from our conversations almost 10 years ago. It's something that I'd really like to preserve and I've been meaning to write it up properly (my year 7 writing skills were rather lacking, thankfully my subject material made up for it a bit). I'd also like to contact the Australian War Memorial and look at showing them some of the material because I'm really proud of the fact that Yeh-Yeh went and took pictures during the war as a civilian because he thought it might be important. From what I remember there are pictures of the POW camp that was near his village. I also remember the fliers which were printed with one side money and the other side the message to let the people know the war was over. Both my grandparents speak mainly Cantonese and with each passing year I'm getting rustier. I think it's time I started writing this all down while I can still ask questions.
It's funny how I used to hate all this family stuff when I was little. Or at least I didn't really understand the cultural things. It used to just get in the way of my rather non-existant social life as far as I was concerned. I guess the older you get the "cooler" it is to have strange cultural rituals/beliefs/celebrations. It's probably the urge to belong as well as the need to have something to celebrate. Life can be pretty bleak so why not create a bit of a diversion and remember where you came from?
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
A bit of a rant surrounded by lighter notes
It's amazing how three days of solid reading can generate a migraine when you haven't been wearing your glasses... okay perhaps not that amazing, but consider my lesson learnt.
I feel like I've been folding clothes forever even though it's only been a day. Believe me when I say Gene and I have many clothes... mostly black so they all look relatively similar. So many shades of black. It's almost like that scene in Notting Hill where Spike and umm.... Hugh Grant's character are having that discussion about never having clean clothes... we really should do cleaning more regularly.
Discipline. Great word. Fantastic concept. We should try it some time!
I've had a flick through my uni stuff, or half of it anyway and it's exciting and scary all at once to discover that my exam falls on the last day of NaNoWriMo... at least it's at 2pm so I've still got the rest of the evening to finish my novel... ahem.
Yesterday I did an online survey because a) I like doing surveys b) there is a remote possibility that I might win something. It worried me, however, how biased the survey seemed to be. I appreciate how painful a long winded multiple choice survey with a zillion answers can be, but it's better than offering too few choices. In particular it's question asking about issues that are important to me. There were about 8 choices on terrorism issues and Australian relationships with other countries and that was fine. However it had one option to do with Muslims and the only other option to do with religion was "Lack of Religion". I find that really upsetting because it's so blatantly targeted at one religious group. Lack of religion?! I honestly feel that in today's media we have a rather biased religious view being presented. Now I don't claim to have answers to any of the larger political issues and honestly I haven't followed current news as carefully as I should, but I believe that everybody has the right to chose their own beliefs and I think we should respect that right.
As for the whole terrorism thing, I don't condone hurting innocent people to prove or present a point. At the same time, I do wonder (thanks to good ol' high school debating) if we would listen to them otherwise. Would we listen if they wrote us a letter or even a hundred letters? I don't know. I don't have the answers so sue me for it. I just don't think we should let ourselves and our society be paralysed by fear. The number of televisions sold has increased significantly over the years since the September 11 bombings and people are venturing out less and less. I really think it's sad that we're now so scared to get out of the house and see the world and enjoy the short years that we have on this planet because we're worried we'll be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sure it's a survival instinct, but in some ways I guess I believe that the people who are doing these things will have won if we're all huddled in our houses watching the world go by on our televisions.
I was speaking to my Dad just after the London bombings and he was saying that even when he was in London, bombs were a daily threat. If you saw a pillar box you crossed the road. So when he watched the news reports about the subway bombings he felt that it was terrible, but that the people of London were probably slightly less shocked than everyone else was making them out to be.
Okay ranting done now.
On a lighter note, Mum called last night from Singapore and it was great to chat with her. It's funny how the futher away I am from my parents, the closer it seems to bring us. I think that when I was in Perth for a month I spoke to my parents more than when I was still living in Melbourne but not at home! Anyhow, it's great to see that she's discovered the world of internet shopping. It'll be great for her craft stuff. She's already bought knitting needles online and she's looking for some special ribbons for her jewelry work. Mum's coming home on Saturday morning in time to teach her bear-making class. She's feeling a bit bad at having missed one already. Usually I'd try to visit her the night she gets home but it's Kieren & Loz's 21st birthday in Geelong so Gene and I will be heading down there on Saturday evening. We've arranged to catch up with my folks on Sunday. Mum's got a tool holder for Gene and she's pretty excited about having found it.
I'm really glad that my parents get along so well with Gene. It's painful when your family and your boyfriend don't mix well.
Part of me is thinking that I may need to get rid of some of my wool... Sorry I'm back on the cleaning rant again. Another part of me is thinking another bookself would be a wise investment. The only question being where would it go... A topic to discuss with Gene I think. Either way we need to look at our storage options again. It's a little sad when at 22yrs I'm thinking of heading to the Home Show to see if they can offer some better storage options...
Just over six weeks to go until NaNoWriMo and I'm starting to think about my potential novel at night. I'm still try to work out what genre to attempt! While I've immersed myself in the realms of sci-fi and fantasy for as long as I can remember, I don't think I have anything new to offer to them. Or at least anything that wouldn't make me cringe and hate myself for a long LONG time. I just wish I had a little more than a couple of joking ideas involving giant squid and bad lift music. I've already started work on my magna carte. I've promised myself no crappy romance lines eg. Oh woe is me, he/she's so cute and wonderful in my dreams but he/she's betrayed me. How will I live? No I hate them. No really I do. Oh okay. They're a bit of all right. Woe is me I am tormented by my conflicted feelings. Eugh. It's my current pet hate in books.
Speaking of books I'm going to do a little more folding and them I'm going to crawl back into bed and continue reading "Ilium" (winner of the 2004 Locus award for best sci-fi novel) which I started reading last night. It's wonderful so far and has an opening sequence that you just want to read out loud. I love novels that make you want to read them out loud. Such wonderful language!
I feel like I've been folding clothes forever even though it's only been a day. Believe me when I say Gene and I have many clothes... mostly black so they all look relatively similar. So many shades of black. It's almost like that scene in Notting Hill where Spike and umm.... Hugh Grant's character are having that discussion about never having clean clothes... we really should do cleaning more regularly.
Discipline. Great word. Fantastic concept. We should try it some time!
I've had a flick through my uni stuff, or half of it anyway and it's exciting and scary all at once to discover that my exam falls on the last day of NaNoWriMo... at least it's at 2pm so I've still got the rest of the evening to finish my novel... ahem.
Yesterday I did an online survey because a) I like doing surveys b) there is a remote possibility that I might win something. It worried me, however, how biased the survey seemed to be. I appreciate how painful a long winded multiple choice survey with a zillion answers can be, but it's better than offering too few choices. In particular it's question asking about issues that are important to me. There were about 8 choices on terrorism issues and Australian relationships with other countries and that was fine. However it had one option to do with Muslims and the only other option to do with religion was "Lack of Religion". I find that really upsetting because it's so blatantly targeted at one religious group. Lack of religion?! I honestly feel that in today's media we have a rather biased religious view being presented. Now I don't claim to have answers to any of the larger political issues and honestly I haven't followed current news as carefully as I should, but I believe that everybody has the right to chose their own beliefs and I think we should respect that right.
As for the whole terrorism thing, I don't condone hurting innocent people to prove or present a point. At the same time, I do wonder (thanks to good ol' high school debating) if we would listen to them otherwise. Would we listen if they wrote us a letter or even a hundred letters? I don't know. I don't have the answers so sue me for it. I just don't think we should let ourselves and our society be paralysed by fear. The number of televisions sold has increased significantly over the years since the September 11 bombings and people are venturing out less and less. I really think it's sad that we're now so scared to get out of the house and see the world and enjoy the short years that we have on this planet because we're worried we'll be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sure it's a survival instinct, but in some ways I guess I believe that the people who are doing these things will have won if we're all huddled in our houses watching the world go by on our televisions.
I was speaking to my Dad just after the London bombings and he was saying that even when he was in London, bombs were a daily threat. If you saw a pillar box you crossed the road. So when he watched the news reports about the subway bombings he felt that it was terrible, but that the people of London were probably slightly less shocked than everyone else was making them out to be.
Okay ranting done now.
On a lighter note, Mum called last night from Singapore and it was great to chat with her. It's funny how the futher away I am from my parents, the closer it seems to bring us. I think that when I was in Perth for a month I spoke to my parents more than when I was still living in Melbourne but not at home! Anyhow, it's great to see that she's discovered the world of internet shopping. It'll be great for her craft stuff. She's already bought knitting needles online and she's looking for some special ribbons for her jewelry work. Mum's coming home on Saturday morning in time to teach her bear-making class. She's feeling a bit bad at having missed one already. Usually I'd try to visit her the night she gets home but it's Kieren & Loz's 21st birthday in Geelong so Gene and I will be heading down there on Saturday evening. We've arranged to catch up with my folks on Sunday. Mum's got a tool holder for Gene and she's pretty excited about having found it.
I'm really glad that my parents get along so well with Gene. It's painful when your family and your boyfriend don't mix well.
Part of me is thinking that I may need to get rid of some of my wool... Sorry I'm back on the cleaning rant again. Another part of me is thinking another bookself would be a wise investment. The only question being where would it go... A topic to discuss with Gene I think. Either way we need to look at our storage options again. It's a little sad when at 22yrs I'm thinking of heading to the Home Show to see if they can offer some better storage options...
Just over six weeks to go until NaNoWriMo and I'm starting to think about my potential novel at night. I'm still try to work out what genre to attempt! While I've immersed myself in the realms of sci-fi and fantasy for as long as I can remember, I don't think I have anything new to offer to them. Or at least anything that wouldn't make me cringe and hate myself for a long LONG time. I just wish I had a little more than a couple of joking ideas involving giant squid and bad lift music. I've already started work on my magna carte. I've promised myself no crappy romance lines eg. Oh woe is me, he/she's so cute and wonderful in my dreams but he/she's betrayed me. How will I live? No I hate them. No really I do. Oh okay. They're a bit of all right. Woe is me I am tormented by my conflicted feelings. Eugh. It's my current pet hate in books.
Speaking of books I'm going to do a little more folding and them I'm going to crawl back into bed and continue reading "Ilium" (winner of the 2004 Locus award for best sci-fi novel) which I started reading last night. It's wonderful so far and has an opening sequence that you just want to read out loud. I love novels that make you want to read them out loud. Such wonderful language!
Monday, August 15, 2005
Weekend Round Up
Hazzar! Job interview's done and I think it went well. I of course have nothing to base this on aside from a general feeling of having done okay and the fact that they said "don't worry if you don't hear from us soon, we're negotiating budgets at the moment so it's no reflection of how you went."
So yay!
Still loving the free time although it is a little lonely at home. What I really should be doing right now is cleaning since we have a house inspection on Friday morning. However I'm feeling sheepish that in the two weeks I've been keeping a blog I haven't managed to keep my daily writing target for a whole week yet!
I just finished reading "Kushiel's Dart" by Jacqueline Carey based on the recommendations of the guy at the fantasy/sci-fi bookshop that Gene found in the CBD, Of Science and Swords. It was an enjoyable read (I read it in just over a day) and quite engaging. The language was at times a little frustrating. I feel that it takes a great deal of skill to write successfully in older forms of English and have discovered that the word "mayhap" really bothers me. Aside from that I'm looking forward to buying a copy of the next novel in the series. Yes... my name is Sarah and I'm a book junkie.
No buying new books yet though. Gene also bought me a copy of "Ilium" by Dan Simmons which caught my attention because from what I discerned from the back of the novel it's a sci-fi telling of the Iliad-ish. Anyway, I'll undoubtedly blather on more once I've read the novel.
Hmmm, so my last ppppp----pp00000000000000000pppppppppppppppp (sorry I had to fix my keyboard, there was something stuck under the "p" so I had to take off two keys.) Where was I... last post was on Thursday. Well Friday was Gene's day off (yay!) so we did what we had to do, which included staying up late Thursday night watching the last few episodes of season 1 of "Scrubs", then slept most of Friday morning. After we got up we went into town to do stuff which is where the book-shopping incident occurred. Saturday afternoon saw us doing romantic things like cleaning the bathroom together and sharing the wonderful fumes that come with using the fabulous Exit Mould. The house still smells a little of Exit Mould but at least it's breathable. We went to drink beer with Phiby who was in town for the weekend to drink away the thought of further cleaning and it was quite a good night. Naomi made the keen observation that you can tell that we've been in long term relationships for a while when you're checking out who looks dumb at the bar instead of who's cute. All too true that night. There was a guy in a pink polo shirt in particular who stood out. He kept checking out his muscles and glancing over to see if we were doing the same. He also rolled his t-shirt (I can't emphasise enough that he was wearing a short sleeved top here), to show off further. Yep there was some classy stuff out there that night!
I found out that my Uncle Albert passed away on Friday night about 6:30pm so Mum's back in Singapore for the funeral. It's kinda silly but I was having a nap around that time and just before I woke up my old dog Ziggy who I grew up with trotted up to me in my dream and gave me the "pat me now damn it" look and I woke up feeling much less grumpy than I had been and feeling somewhat comforted by the dream. Then Dad called to tell me the news. Timing...
Well if I'm not going to clean right now the least I can do is eat. I've got to work on not falling asleep during the day. I'm just struggling a little because I'm not excited about the whole cleaning the house thing and I'm looking forward to reading my book!
Hungry now. Going.
So yay!
Still loving the free time although it is a little lonely at home. What I really should be doing right now is cleaning since we have a house inspection on Friday morning. However I'm feeling sheepish that in the two weeks I've been keeping a blog I haven't managed to keep my daily writing target for a whole week yet!
I just finished reading "Kushiel's Dart" by Jacqueline Carey based on the recommendations of the guy at the fantasy/sci-fi bookshop that Gene found in the CBD, Of Science and Swords. It was an enjoyable read (I read it in just over a day) and quite engaging. The language was at times a little frustrating. I feel that it takes a great deal of skill to write successfully in older forms of English and have discovered that the word "mayhap" really bothers me. Aside from that I'm looking forward to buying a copy of the next novel in the series. Yes... my name is Sarah and I'm a book junkie.
No buying new books yet though. Gene also bought me a copy of "Ilium" by Dan Simmons which caught my attention because from what I discerned from the back of the novel it's a sci-fi telling of the Iliad-ish. Anyway, I'll undoubtedly blather on more once I've read the novel.
Hmmm, so my last ppppp----pp00000000000000000pppppppppppppppp (sorry I had to fix my keyboard, there was something stuck under the "p" so I had to take off two keys.) Where was I... last post was on Thursday. Well Friday was Gene's day off (yay!) so we did what we had to do, which included staying up late Thursday night watching the last few episodes of season 1 of "Scrubs", then slept most of Friday morning. After we got up we went into town to do stuff which is where the book-shopping incident occurred. Saturday afternoon saw us doing romantic things like cleaning the bathroom together and sharing the wonderful fumes that come with using the fabulous Exit Mould. The house still smells a little of Exit Mould but at least it's breathable. We went to drink beer with Phiby who was in town for the weekend to drink away the thought of further cleaning and it was quite a good night. Naomi made the keen observation that you can tell that we've been in long term relationships for a while when you're checking out who looks dumb at the bar instead of who's cute. All too true that night. There was a guy in a pink polo shirt in particular who stood out. He kept checking out his muscles and glancing over to see if we were doing the same. He also rolled his t-shirt (I can't emphasise enough that he was wearing a short sleeved top here), to show off further. Yep there was some classy stuff out there that night!
I found out that my Uncle Albert passed away on Friday night about 6:30pm so Mum's back in Singapore for the funeral. It's kinda silly but I was having a nap around that time and just before I woke up my old dog Ziggy who I grew up with trotted up to me in my dream and gave me the "pat me now damn it" look and I woke up feeling much less grumpy than I had been and feeling somewhat comforted by the dream. Then Dad called to tell me the news. Timing...
Well if I'm not going to clean right now the least I can do is eat. I've got to work on not falling asleep during the day. I'm just struggling a little because I'm not excited about the whole cleaning the house thing and I'm looking forward to reading my book!
Hungry now. Going.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Bleah
Just can't be bothered today. Didn't want to get out of bed, or more accurately was happy to get out of bed, just didn't want to wake up. It's much warmer in my dreams.
Besides, it's not like I have a great deal to get done really. Uni doesn't start till the 29th. I'm still waiting to hear about work and whinge whinge whine whine.
I can hear the two puppies that our upstairs neighbours have running up an down the floorboards constantly. I used to think it was bad when they're always wearing hard soled shoes in the house...
The two puppies are cute though. Herman's been a little confused at my constantly being home. I think he's used to having the days to himself. I'm probably disturbing his sleep pattern.
I think I'll curl up with my book tonight. Maybe get started on knitting my top again (one of them anyhow). I knitted a lacy scarf out of Patons "Lush" yesterday and it's warm and purdy. Silver lining.
Besides, it's not like I have a great deal to get done really. Uni doesn't start till the 29th. I'm still waiting to hear about work and whinge whinge whine whine.
I can hear the two puppies that our upstairs neighbours have running up an down the floorboards constantly. I used to think it was bad when they're always wearing hard soled shoes in the house...
The two puppies are cute though. Herman's been a little confused at my constantly being home. I think he's used to having the days to himself. I'm probably disturbing his sleep pattern.
I think I'll curl up with my book tonight. Maybe get started on knitting my top again (one of them anyhow). I knitted a lacy scarf out of Patons "Lush" yesterday and it's warm and purdy. Silver lining.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
"friend" - noun
1. A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts.
2. A person whom one knows,; an acquaintance.
3. A person with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade.
4. One who supports, sympathises with, or patronises a group, cause, or movement: friends of the clean air movement .
5. Friend A member of the Society of Friends; a Quaker.
Word History: A friend is a lover, literally. The relationship between Latin amcus “friend” and am “I love” is clear, as is the relationship between Greek philos “friend” and phile “I love.” In English, though, we have to go back a millennium before we see the verb related to friend. At that time, frond, the Old English word for “friend,” was simply the present participle of the verb fron, “to love.” The Germanic root behind this verb is *fr-, which meant “to like, love, be friendly to.” Closely linked to these concepts is that of “peace,” and in fact Germanic made a noun from this root, *frithu-, meaning exactly that. Ultimately descended from this noun are the personal names Frederick, “peaceful ruler,” and Siegfried, ”victory peace.” The root also shows up in the name of the Germanic deity Frigg, the goddess of love, who lives on today in the word Friday, “day of Frigg,” from an ancient translation of Latin Veneris dis, “day of Venus.”
Quoted from Dictionary.com
I don't think of my acquaintances as being my friends. I think I'm more apt to go with the first definition of a friend as being someone who I like and trust. I'm thinking about this a bit because I just caught up with Lisa on the phone and we had a good long chat tonight. I suppose I think of people who I can talk to as friends. I suppose that's when I realised that the people I met at my last job weren't just colleagues but were my friends as well.
I was really inspired to write after my conversation with Lisa, but I'm finding that I'm not able to find any words that I'm happy with. I'm just happy that we've caught up and that we've shared that time talking about things together like we used to when we were at uni. Before we all got day jobs. So I think I'll leave it at that. Nothing profound. Just wanted to share that I'm happy.
2. A person whom one knows,; an acquaintance.
3. A person with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade.
4. One who supports, sympathises with, or patronises a group, cause, or movement: friends of the clean air movement .
5. Friend A member of the Society of Friends; a Quaker.
Word History: A friend is a lover, literally. The relationship between Latin amcus “friend” and am “I love” is clear, as is the relationship between Greek philos “friend” and phile “I love.” In English, though, we have to go back a millennium before we see the verb related to friend. At that time, frond, the Old English word for “friend,” was simply the present participle of the verb fron, “to love.” The Germanic root behind this verb is *fr-, which meant “to like, love, be friendly to.” Closely linked to these concepts is that of “peace,” and in fact Germanic made a noun from this root, *frithu-, meaning exactly that. Ultimately descended from this noun are the personal names Frederick, “peaceful ruler,” and Siegfried, ”victory peace.” The root also shows up in the name of the Germanic deity Frigg, the goddess of love, who lives on today in the word Friday, “day of Frigg,” from an ancient translation of Latin Veneris dis, “day of Venus.”
Quoted from Dictionary.com
I don't think of my acquaintances as being my friends. I think I'm more apt to go with the first definition of a friend as being someone who I like and trust. I'm thinking about this a bit because I just caught up with Lisa on the phone and we had a good long chat tonight. I suppose I think of people who I can talk to as friends. I suppose that's when I realised that the people I met at my last job weren't just colleagues but were my friends as well.
I was really inspired to write after my conversation with Lisa, but I'm finding that I'm not able to find any words that I'm happy with. I'm just happy that we've caught up and that we've shared that time talking about things together like we used to when we were at uni. Before we all got day jobs. So I think I'll leave it at that. Nothing profound. Just wanted to share that I'm happy.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Channelling
I got a phone call today letting me know that I've got a job interview for one of my apply-for-it-first-afterall-what's-the-worst-thing-that-can-happen jobs on Monday. For a brief few minutes I was more excited about a potential job than I have been in a long time. I say a few brief minutes because following those brief minutes I channeled that excitement into pure stress. I've managed to revert to anxiousness but have a feeling it's more along the lines of shock.
There really isn't even much point to being stressed, it's detrimental to how I'll interview, but nevertheless this is a job that I desperately want. It will make me feel a little better about my recent voluntary unemployment and I think it'd be good for me. A real challenge in the environment that I'd like to be in.
I always get jobs that I don't really mind if I do or don't. I'm fairly sure it's a confidence thing. So all I need to remember is that just yesterday, in fact just this morning I believed that I wasn't going to get this job (and part of me is still there) but it wasn't the be all and end all (which it isn't... but you know).
Argh!
There really isn't even much point to being stressed, it's detrimental to how I'll interview, but nevertheless this is a job that I desperately want. It will make me feel a little better about my recent voluntary unemployment and I think it'd be good for me. A real challenge in the environment that I'd like to be in.
I always get jobs that I don't really mind if I do or don't. I'm fairly sure it's a confidence thing. So all I need to remember is that just yesterday, in fact just this morning I believed that I wasn't going to get this job (and part of me is still there) but it wasn't the be all and end all (which it isn't... but you know).
Argh!
Monday, August 08, 2005
Noding, knitting and other things that start with "n" sounds
Typical that not a week has passed and I've already broken the "daily blogging" resolution. Oh well if at first you can't succeed then pretend otherwise.
New things that I have learnt over the last few days.
1. Melbourne is GMT 10hrs
2. I require an average of 6-7hr sleep a night.
3. Continental or European Knitting
4. Noding is really cool!
Gene told me about a site called Everything2 after I mentioned that I'd been linking like crazy in one of my blogs last week and it's fantastic! (A little like the nutella I'm eating right now, but much more interesting). My current understanding of it is that it's a website where people write (about whatever they choose to write about) and then proceed to link every few words (interesting words, places, names, titles, whatever they decide) to another website or indeed another node! The idea being that you link to other interesting sites while also writing your piece! People also keep journals online there too. Sounds really wonderful to me. I'd love to give it a shot for real one day.
Maybe I'll node about European/Continental knitting! (Haha... a subtle segueway attempt there if every I saw one fail). Mum has been telling me about the European knitting method for quite some time now. It's apparently a more efficient way to knit as there is less movement from the hands. So having heard that my knitting could be more efficient (fast knitting means more random stuff that Sarah can create.. socks & scarves may yet take over the world... Mwah ha ha ha!) I set out to find a website that could teach me this wonderous method of knitting.
The method of knitting that many of us learn is the English or "throwing" method where the yarn (if you're right-handed) is held in your right hand and you "throw" it around the needle to make your new loop. With the European or "picking" style the yarn is held in the left hand and is controlled by the left index finger. This means that you barely have to move your hands at all as the yarn is pretty much on the right side to make the loop. I found that it pretty much makes the loop for you anyhow! The only website I found online is Tom Farrell's Guide to Knitting which is illustrated. It's a better description of the knitting technique than I've given really. So now I'm learning the new knitting technique and it's fun but it feels so uncoordinated at the moment!
The weekend just gone was really good. It was lovely to see the family again, although a little awkward when they brought up the subject of work (haven't broken the news yet). My little cousins are really not so little anymore. Natalie's maybe 30cm shorter than me and Nadia's not too much smaller. Then again I've always been short so I really can't complain. Besides, I think I like being small most days. Learn to accept so they say. My cousins were all in high spirits and the look on my aunt's face when she saw her brother from Perth and her sister from Canberra standing in her shop was priceless. They'd all given her a call earlier in the day to wish her happy birthday and confirm that their presents/cards had been received before turning up at her shop at lunch time. Aaron & Judy, my cousins, prepared a slide show with many family photos that had been taken of my aunt. They made sure to get a photo of all the family members who were at the dinner (just to share the embarrassment of terrible fashion choices and poses). I was a fashion offender. I had this purple coat that was slightly padded that I loved beyond all belief. I even convinced my parents that this was the right coat to wear on the trip to New Zealand (where the photos were taken). Honestly it was not pretty. Not on anyone... but hey, I was warm then. Even if I did look a little like the love child of Violet Beauregarde and the Michellan man. We're set to have another big family party in December for my grandma (or Ma-Ma as I call her as she's my Dad's mother) for her 80th birthday. This will undoubtedly be a big one. I'm expecting more family to be flying in. If I've been given several months notice, then this is going to be huge!
Well it's now almost 1.5 hours since I started writing this blog and I've been getting rather side-tracked while doing so but I think it's time for me to disappear back to the real world for a bit. Only a fleeting visit I'm sure.
New things that I have learnt over the last few days.
1. Melbourne is GMT 10hrs
2. I require an average of 6-7hr sleep a night.
3. Continental or European Knitting
4. Noding is really cool!
Gene told me about a site called Everything2 after I mentioned that I'd been linking like crazy in one of my blogs last week and it's fantastic! (A little like the nutella I'm eating right now, but much more interesting). My current understanding of it is that it's a website where people write (about whatever they choose to write about) and then proceed to link every few words (interesting words, places, names, titles, whatever they decide) to another website or indeed another node! The idea being that you link to other interesting sites while also writing your piece! People also keep journals online there too. Sounds really wonderful to me. I'd love to give it a shot for real one day.
Maybe I'll node about European/Continental knitting! (Haha... a subtle segueway attempt there if every I saw one fail). Mum has been telling me about the European knitting method for quite some time now. It's apparently a more efficient way to knit as there is less movement from the hands. So having heard that my knitting could be more efficient (fast knitting means more random stuff that Sarah can create.. socks & scarves may yet take over the world... Mwah ha ha ha!) I set out to find a website that could teach me this wonderous method of knitting.
The method of knitting that many of us learn is the English or "throwing" method where the yarn (if you're right-handed) is held in your right hand and you "throw" it around the needle to make your new loop. With the European or "picking" style the yarn is held in the left hand and is controlled by the left index finger. This means that you barely have to move your hands at all as the yarn is pretty much on the right side to make the loop. I found that it pretty much makes the loop for you anyhow! The only website I found online is Tom Farrell's Guide to Knitting which is illustrated. It's a better description of the knitting technique than I've given really. So now I'm learning the new knitting technique and it's fun but it feels so uncoordinated at the moment!
The weekend just gone was really good. It was lovely to see the family again, although a little awkward when they brought up the subject of work (haven't broken the news yet). My little cousins are really not so little anymore. Natalie's maybe 30cm shorter than me and Nadia's not too much smaller. Then again I've always been short so I really can't complain. Besides, I think I like being small most days. Learn to accept so they say. My cousins were all in high spirits and the look on my aunt's face when she saw her brother from Perth and her sister from Canberra standing in her shop was priceless. They'd all given her a call earlier in the day to wish her happy birthday and confirm that their presents/cards had been received before turning up at her shop at lunch time. Aaron & Judy, my cousins, prepared a slide show with many family photos that had been taken of my aunt. They made sure to get a photo of all the family members who were at the dinner (just to share the embarrassment of terrible fashion choices and poses). I was a fashion offender. I had this purple coat that was slightly padded that I loved beyond all belief. I even convinced my parents that this was the right coat to wear on the trip to New Zealand (where the photos were taken). Honestly it was not pretty. Not on anyone... but hey, I was warm then. Even if I did look a little like the love child of Violet Beauregarde and the Michellan man. We're set to have another big family party in December for my grandma (or Ma-Ma as I call her as she's my Dad's mother) for her 80th birthday. This will undoubtedly be a big one. I'm expecting more family to be flying in. If I've been given several months notice, then this is going to be huge!
Well it's now almost 1.5 hours since I started writing this blog and I've been getting rather side-tracked while doing so but I think it's time for me to disappear back to the real world for a bit. Only a fleeting visit I'm sure.
Saturday, August 06, 2005
Note
I'm at my folks house now and we're all getting ready for the big dinner tonight. Should be great. I'm starving.
Just wanted to make sure I posted something today so that I don't get too slack with the daily writing.
It's been really good to see my extended family again. Makes it feel a little like when I was little. Big family get togethers and much less politics in my life.
Tomorrow night is the MIFF party which I'm looking forward to. Suddenly the weekend seems brighter!
Just wanted to make sure I posted something today so that I don't get too slack with the daily writing.
It's been really good to see my extended family again. Makes it feel a little like when I was little. Big family get togethers and much less politics in my life.
Tomorrow night is the MIFF party which I'm looking forward to. Suddenly the weekend seems brighter!
Friday, August 05, 2005
Student again!
Woohoo! My confirmation of registration letter arrived from Open Uni. I am a student once more! (I am sensing many exclamation marks in this entry) Legal Framework here I come... well as soon as I can get the text book anyway. I've only got a week and a bit to do so too . I'm hoping the State Library of Victoria can help me out there. Failing that there's always those academic bookshops in town. As much as I love a new text book, my finances are telling me second hand is definitely the way to go.
Now on a side note... I've noticed that when I sit at my computer (as I am rather obviously doing so now), my right hand always gets really cold. I mean REALLY cold. Mucy colder than the left hand, which still feels kinda warm. It doesn't seem to matter if I'm typing or using the mouse or the keypad. I tried wearing gloves, fingerless mitts, hunters mitts and nothing seems to work. Guess this will make NaNoWriMo an interesting and fun time of year. Particularly as I have an exam in November for Legal Framework. I'm sensing a rather stressed Sarah then.
Today has been a good day so far, although my dreams last night were a little stressful. Can't even remember why I was stressed in them. I just remember they weren't half as pleasant as the ones from the night before.
I've settled happily into a semi-nocturnal state. I'm more than happy to go to bed around 2-3am but seem to be rising at 8-9am. Oh well, I guess I'm out of my exhausted phase and back to my usual 6 hours per night!
Went into town today and got the rest of the "Rockery" wool I needed to finish my current scarf. Also bought another two balls of wool for another scarf... they were just so soft! Here's hoping I've got the right needles.
Depending on which way you look at it, I'm a great or terrible shopper. A frequent impulse buyer but also one that deliberates for ages doing so. Crazy. I ended up buying another John Varley book "Red Thunder". It was only $17.95. Much cheaper than the others. I keep thinking if I repeat that often enough that I'll convince myself it was a sensible thing to do. I have a feeling that "The Black Crusades" may have to wait. I'm such a fickle reader at times. Too much selection at present!
I hear my wheat bag calling me... or more accurately the microwave calling my frozen right hand. Also Nick, who I haven't seen in what feels like ages, will be here soon for coffee. Yay!
Apologies for the poor grammar. This is something I'll need to work on soon...
Now on a side note... I've noticed that when I sit at my computer (as I am rather obviously doing so now), my right hand always gets really cold. I mean REALLY cold. Mucy colder than the left hand, which still feels kinda warm. It doesn't seem to matter if I'm typing or using the mouse or the keypad. I tried wearing gloves, fingerless mitts, hunters mitts and nothing seems to work. Guess this will make NaNoWriMo an interesting and fun time of year. Particularly as I have an exam in November for Legal Framework. I'm sensing a rather stressed Sarah then.
Today has been a good day so far, although my dreams last night were a little stressful. Can't even remember why I was stressed in them. I just remember they weren't half as pleasant as the ones from the night before.
I've settled happily into a semi-nocturnal state. I'm more than happy to go to bed around 2-3am but seem to be rising at 8-9am. Oh well, I guess I'm out of my exhausted phase and back to my usual 6 hours per night!
Went into town today and got the rest of the "Rockery" wool I needed to finish my current scarf. Also bought another two balls of wool for another scarf... they were just so soft! Here's hoping I've got the right needles.
Depending on which way you look at it, I'm a great or terrible shopper. A frequent impulse buyer but also one that deliberates for ages doing so. Crazy. I ended up buying another John Varley book "Red Thunder". It was only $17.95. Much cheaper than the others. I keep thinking if I repeat that often enough that I'll convince myself it was a sensible thing to do. I have a feeling that "The Black Crusades" may have to wait. I'm such a fickle reader at times. Too much selection at present!
I hear my wheat bag calling me... or more accurately the microwave calling my frozen right hand. Also Nick, who I haven't seen in what feels like ages, will be here soon for coffee. Yay!
Apologies for the poor grammar. This is something I'll need to work on soon...
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Lost Hour(s)
Another lazy day today. Nothing truly unusual! Oh except that today was one of the currently rare days where Gene didn't actually have to be anywhere today, so that was nice. Unsurprisingly we got up late and slacked about the house for a bit. The best bit was listening to the mixed mini-disc that he'd put together for me about two years ago (I promise I won't get too mushy). It has great songs like "Frontier Psychiatry", "Common People" (the Pulp version NOT William Shatner) and "Here Comes Your Man" just to name a few of the songs that I hadn't heard in ages. A great mix of mellow, rocky and just silly songs (like "Old Man Sam" which is almost country rock in some ways but still so good).
We finally made it to the supermarket today, not that we bought any food. No, that would be a little too crazy. We ended up buying toothbrushes (with tongue scrapers to "improve our breath", man we're suckers sometimes), exit mould, some scrubbing sponges and some cordial. Oh and we made two dollars for returning the trolley we picked up.
The rest of the day is the best though. We spent the entire evening staying home and watching Press Gang Season 2 (which I'm shocked and horrified is not coming up on the amazon search below). Ah Spike and Linda. So much 80's goodness! Now it's just a matter of waiting for Season 3 to come out on DVD.
I was knitting a scarf out of "Rockery" wool today while watching Press Gang and have rather annoyingly run out of the wool. So I guess I'll be making a trip into town for that. Oh that and money's come through for the last play I did so YAY! I'm going to use some of it to get wool for the scarf I said I'd design for one of the cast members. I'd like to finish it for her sometime before the cold weather disappears.
I'm also hoping to make something for my little cousins (who won't be little for much longer I think). They'll be in town this weekend for my aunt's 60th birthday. I hardly ever see them and I want them to know that I do think of them. I'm just terrible with kids really. Well, they seem to like me well enough. I think it's because I'm generally their height or smaller (by the time they turn 10) therefore I don't really pose much of a threat. I don't know. I just didn't spend much time with people who were younger than me growing up and I guess I'm paranoid that I'll be patronising even though I've been assured that I'm not. If there's one thing I hated when I was little it was being patronised.
Tomorrow should be a good day. As long as I drag my sorry self out of bed at a decent hour and remember everything that I need to bring when I pick Gene up from work, things should work out well!
We're going to my parents tomorrow night so that I can spend some time back at their place doing the family thing & fixing up our computers. That and Gene's working out that way for the better part of the day.
Okay. Now it's time for me to stop blathering on. I'm a little too distracted to write I think. Distracted by what? By pretty much anything and everything.
We finally made it to the supermarket today, not that we bought any food. No, that would be a little too crazy. We ended up buying toothbrushes (with tongue scrapers to "improve our breath", man we're suckers sometimes), exit mould, some scrubbing sponges and some cordial. Oh and we made two dollars for returning the trolley we picked up.
The rest of the day is the best though. We spent the entire evening staying home and watching Press Gang Season 2 (which I'm shocked and horrified is not coming up on the amazon search below). Ah Spike and Linda. So much 80's goodness! Now it's just a matter of waiting for Season 3 to come out on DVD.
I was knitting a scarf out of "Rockery" wool today while watching Press Gang and have rather annoyingly run out of the wool. So I guess I'll be making a trip into town for that. Oh that and money's come through for the last play I did so YAY! I'm going to use some of it to get wool for the scarf I said I'd design for one of the cast members. I'd like to finish it for her sometime before the cold weather disappears.
I'm also hoping to make something for my little cousins (who won't be little for much longer I think). They'll be in town this weekend for my aunt's 60th birthday. I hardly ever see them and I want them to know that I do think of them.
Tomorrow should be a good day. As long as I drag my sorry self out of bed at a decent hour and remember everything that I need to bring when I pick Gene up from work, things should work out well!
We're going to my parents tomorrow night so that I can spend some time back at their place doing the family thing & fixing up our computers. That and Gene's working out that way for the better part of the day.
Okay. Now it's time for me to stop blathering on. I'm a little too distracted to write I think. Distracted by what? By pretty much anything and everything.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Hi-di-hi-di-hi-di-hi!
Okay, I'll stop listening to the BBVD's Live CD tonight I promise... but it's just so good! "Minnie the Moocher's" playing right now. Great song that.
Despite the weatherman's prediction of rain all day, it's been nothing but blue skies. So I really should be doing the laundry - god knows we have enough of it - but I'm sitting at the computer tapping away at the keyboard instead. At least I should go and bring in the clean washing before the weatherman proves right.
Just as an aside, one thing I love about keeping a blog is the resource of sites like Dictionary.Com for those brief moments of is-that-really-a-word? that I'm sure we all experience.
Today like the last few has been a pretty lazy day. Gene & I woke up at around noon and only sidled out of bed at 1:30pm when the weather had warmed up quite nicely. After that it was to a cafe called "Mule" (not sure if it's relating to the animal, spinning machine or locomotive, your guess is as good as mine). Gene had the big breakfast which looked great but he said it was okay. I had the steak sandwich that was supposedly made with pide bread but I'm fairly sure it came on a white bread roll that had been lightly toasted, but who's picking?
After that he dropped me back at home and headed off to work which brings me to typing here. There was a bit of job hunting and other mundane tasks like that, but it bores me to speak of that so I won't.
Last night I finished reading "Geomancer" which is volume 1 in "The Well of Echoes" trilogy by Ian Irvine. Honestly I was a little disappointed. I feel like it was a little clunky in parts and somewhat predictable. Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to get the other two books in the trilogy and probably get the new book his written too. I suppose I remember enjoying the "View From the Mirror" quartet so much that I had pretty high expectations. It was one of those books that I didn't want to put down but I could if I had to. Part of me thinks that I've just read too many sci-fi/fantasy books lately and I'm getting used to the basic formula that many of them follow at some point or another. Still there are other books that are quite engaging and to an extent follow the formula like "Abarat" by Clive Barker, which I've very much enjoyed and I'm still looking for the next book in the series. I love the idea that each hour of the day has it's own island. Besides, how could you not love a character called Christopher Carrion the Lord of Midnight? (I just googled Christopher Carrion and the first site that came up advises that he is the assistant managing attorney of a law firm. How fantastic!)
Now I'm just trying to work out what to read next. I've read the prologue to Jack Dann's "The Memory Cathedral: A Secret History of Leonardo da Vinci" and I think that is definitely a contender. However I'm looking for something a little lighter so I think I'll be reading "The Black Crusade" by Richard Harland. (Apparently this book doesn't show up on Amazon's website). I bought a copy for Gene at Continuum 3 last month and he's been busy reading Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy. Meanwhile I was busy reading John Varley's "The Golden Globe". Anyway I just picked up "The Black Crusade" to have a read of the first couple of pages and I appear to be reading chapter two already, so it looks like it's a winner!
Having changed the CD to chillout-French music, I think I'm going to curl up with my book and enjoy the remainder of the afternoon!
Despite the weatherman's prediction of rain all day, it's been nothing but blue skies. So I really should be doing the laundry - god knows we have enough of it - but I'm sitting at the computer tapping away at the keyboard instead. At least I should go and bring in the clean washing before the weatherman proves right.
Just as an aside, one thing I love about keeping a blog is the resource of sites like Dictionary.Com for those brief moments of is-that-really-a-word? that I'm sure we all experience.
Today like the last few has been a pretty lazy day. Gene & I woke up at around noon and only sidled out of bed at 1:30pm when the weather had warmed up quite nicely. After that it was to a cafe called "Mule" (not sure if it's relating to the animal, spinning machine or locomotive, your guess is as good as mine). Gene had the big breakfast which looked great but he said it was okay. I had the steak sandwich that was supposedly made with pide bread but I'm fairly sure it came on a white bread roll that had been lightly toasted, but who's picking?
After that he dropped me back at home and headed off to work which brings me to typing here. There was a bit of job hunting and other mundane tasks like that, but it bores me to speak of that so I won't.
Last night I finished reading "Geomancer" which is volume 1 in "The Well of Echoes" trilogy by Ian Irvine. Honestly I was a little disappointed. I feel like it was a little clunky in parts and somewhat predictable. Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to get the other two books in the trilogy and probably get the new book his written too. I suppose I remember enjoying the "View From the Mirror" quartet so much that I had pretty high expectations. It was one of those books that I didn't want to put down but I could if I had to. Part of me thinks that I've just read too many sci-fi/fantasy books lately and I'm getting used to the basic formula that many of them follow at some point or another. Still there are other books that are quite engaging and to an extent follow the formula like "Abarat" by Clive Barker, which I've very much enjoyed and I'm still looking for the next book in the series. I love the idea that each hour of the day has it's own island. Besides, how could you not love a character called Christopher Carrion the Lord of Midnight? (I just googled Christopher Carrion and the first site that came up advises that he is the assistant managing attorney of a law firm. How fantastic!)
Now I'm just trying to work out what to read next. I've read the prologue to Jack Dann's "The Memory Cathedral: A Secret History of Leonardo da Vinci" and I think that is definitely a contender. However I'm looking for something a little lighter so I think I'll be reading "The Black Crusade" by Richard Harland. (Apparently this book doesn't show up on Amazon's website). I bought a copy for Gene at Continuum 3 last month and he's been busy reading Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy. Meanwhile I was busy reading John Varley's "The Golden Globe". Anyway I just picked up "The Black Crusade" to have a read of the first couple of pages and I appear to be reading chapter two already, so it looks like it's a winner!
Having changed the CD to chillout-French music, I think I'm going to curl up with my book and enjoy the remainder of the afternoon!
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Jobless-ish
I'm unemployed at the moment and feel this is the best time to take advantage of the spare time to write! Besides, it's good training for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in October. I figure I start with mere few hundred words a day and build up to the 1600 words I'll need to be writing by then. Wish me luck!
It's a little depressing looking at my home page for MySpace at the moment. I only have one friend according to the site... I like too think that in the real world this is not the case - and that I have at least a couple more. For example our pet rat Herman who is currently chewing through his new hammock. I'm not sure why he does this as it will only result in him falling out of his warm little nest one day, but he seems keen on doing so and I don't want to hold him back.
Outside it's a sunny blue sky day and it's still an ice box in our house. I'm curled up in front of our little space heater and I'm strongly considering turning it up to full sun (which I believe is the highest setting). I've had a quick look at the jobs on Arts Hub, called about a stage management gig and have been advised that I'll get a call this evening. Aside from that I've received nothing in the mail, both electronic and regular, that is of note. Unless you include the electricity bill, but I'm hoping to ignore that until after I've done my tax return and actually have money again.
I'm not totallly unemployed. I'm volunteering at MIFF at the moment which has been great fun so far. This is their last week though and tonight's my last night but hopefully this stage management gig will go ahead. Failing that I'm looking at some lighting op jobs and hopefully my letter of offer for the venue officer job I got offered last week will arrive in the near future. I'm always a little unsure how often to follow up on paperwork for a job. After all I want to give the impression of enthusiasm and organisation while not appearing to be desperate or harrassing them. It's a fine line I think.
Aside from the lack of funds I'm actually enjoying the lack of work. I've finished more books in the last week than I have in the last six months - which is a big thing for me. I usually read at least one book a week even during busy weeks.
I'd like to note that production week on a show does not count as a busy week. In fact I don't actually include it as a week in my time as I disappear from the world as we know it and don't surface again for the duration of the "week".
At the moment I'm trying a different approach to job hunting. While it's a little idealistic, hopefully this will avoid me being sucked back into the call centre world (a.k.a my personal "Hotel California"). After 11 months of work in a call centre I feel like part of my soul has died. Perhaps that is exagerating. It's more like part of my soul/spirit has taken industrial action until I made the decision to fully commit my time to employment in the arts where I want to be. I think I've managed to negotiate with myself that I may need to go into some casual soul-sucking work again just to get past the whole rent problem but nothing permanent if I can help it.
I'm also going back to study through Open Learning and I'm looking forward to the intellectual challenge of that. It's been a couple of years since I've really studied and I'm actually a little nervous about starting again. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's because I'll be using parts of my brain that have been dormant for a while.
Okay, enough procrastination for now. I'm off to read. Mmmm... good book and a nice warm bed.
It's a little depressing looking at my home page for MySpace at the moment. I only have one friend according to the site... I like too think that in the real world this is not the case - and that I have at least a couple more. For example our pet rat Herman who is currently chewing through his new hammock. I'm not sure why he does this as it will only result in him falling out of his warm little nest one day, but he seems keen on doing so and I don't want to hold him back.
Outside it's a sunny blue sky day and it's still an ice box in our house. I'm curled up in front of our little space heater and I'm strongly considering turning it up to full sun (which I believe is the highest setting). I've had a quick look at the jobs on Arts Hub, called about a stage management gig and have been advised that I'll get a call this evening. Aside from that I've received nothing in the mail, both electronic and regular, that is of note. Unless you include the electricity bill, but I'm hoping to ignore that until after I've done my tax return and actually have money again.
I'm not totallly unemployed. I'm volunteering at MIFF at the moment which has been great fun so far. This is their last week though and tonight's my last night but hopefully this stage management gig will go ahead. Failing that I'm looking at some lighting op jobs and hopefully my letter of offer for the venue officer job I got offered last week will arrive in the near future. I'm always a little unsure how often to follow up on paperwork for a job. After all I want to give the impression of enthusiasm and organisation while not appearing to be desperate or harrassing them. It's a fine line I think.
Aside from the lack of funds I'm actually enjoying the lack of work. I've finished more books in the last week than I have in the last six months - which is a big thing for me. I usually read at least one book a week even during busy weeks.
I'd like to note that production week on a show does not count as a busy week. In fact I don't actually include it as a week in my time as I disappear from the world as we know it and don't surface again for the duration of the "week".
At the moment I'm trying a different approach to job hunting. While it's a little idealistic, hopefully this will avoid me being sucked back into the call centre world (a.k.a my personal "Hotel California"). After 11 months of work in a call centre I feel like part of my soul has died. Perhaps that is exagerating. It's more like part of my soul/spirit has taken industrial action until I made the decision to fully commit my time to employment in the arts where I want to be. I think I've managed to negotiate with myself that I may need to go into some casual soul-sucking work again just to get past the whole rent problem but nothing permanent if I can help it.
I'm also going back to study through Open Learning and I'm looking forward to the intellectual challenge of that. It's been a couple of years since I've really studied and I'm actually a little nervous about starting again. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's because I'll be using parts of my brain that have been dormant for a while.
Okay, enough procrastination for now. I'm off to read. Mmmm... good book and a nice warm bed.
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