I don’t have time tonight to write a decent, proper post on Lauren & Nathan’s Engagement Party, but here are some photos:
Nov 192006
Nov 152006
Today is my dear darling cousin (and best friend!) Noelle’s 22nd birthday. Happy Birthday Noe! We celebrated tonight at Jorge on George, and will celebrate further on Friday night at Noelle’s place, where the theme will be “transit”. I’m still deliberating over what is in my wardrobe that might possibly suit that…
Me and Noe at Jorge on George this evening.
This week has been/will be a big week. I’m glad that I had last weekend to rest up and get some washing done. For a while there, I was going out almost every weekend (and then some!) and creating my own occasions where there were none. Now, it seems like it’s no longer my choice, that events are there and must be attended. Not that I don’t like going out, I think sometimes it wears me out. Sometimes I’d like to sit at home and watch a DVD, which is something that I think about doing but don’t really do that often anymore, but because I think about doing it then it feels like that’s all I ever think about doing and so when it comes time that there is the opportunity for me to do just that, I don’t want to because it’s so ordinary, or boring… and I should be spending my time doing something more productive or just a better use of my free time. I seem to stay up later and later, and don’t end up doing anything at all, but just sort of stuff around for a couple of hours. Then I realise the time and that there was no point me staying up late at all.
This weekend, I have Noelle’s party on Friday night, work on Saturday morning, helping set up Lauren & Nathan’s engagement party Saturday afternoon, Lauren & Nathan’s engagement party Saturday evening, and then I am not allowed to stay at home Saturday night because we have family up for Lauren & Nathan’s engagement party. This doesn’t mean that I won’t be able to relax… every thing that I do is time out from the other things that I’m not doing at that exact moment in time.
Christian and I went out for dinner last night to Hanaichi. It was good – we had Wagyu beef, and some sushi, and then a black sesame creme caramel with sesame ice cream for dessert. Then we went to see the Grudge 2. There were a couple of disturbing things, and I jumped a few times, but it wasn’t the most amazing horror film ever. Nothing was explained, nothing was resolved… in the end, there was really no point for the movie having existed at all, except to use that womans face to scare people some more. I don’t regret seeing it, because i like scary movies, but I think that it could have been a lot better. I’m hanging out for Borat!
Our team finished work early today. Christian picked me up at 3:00PM so that I could take all my personal belongings home. We also went out to WOW and got new Divx players ($55 cheap cheap!).
Anyway, I’m getting tired looking at Napoleon nap beside the computer, so I’m going to go to bed.
Napoleon in his castle.
My favourite objects acquired over the last few days:
Nintendo DS Lite
I have the white one. I got this on Friday, when Christian and I had lunch. I’ve been playing it off and on over the last few days. It’s pretty much the most awesome portable gaming system I’ve ever owned (that’s not saying much because I’ve only ever had one of those huge old-skool gameboys, plus a little mermaid handheld game, and one of those water games where you press the buttons and it sends a pump of water up and levitates the little ball); but if you concentrate on the fact that I’m older now, and more discerning in my choices of entertainment, and I’ve seen a lot more of the world, then it should mean more that I think it’s awesome now. I’m a nerd and this is a ridiculously long and drawn out paragraph.
DS Lite rocks. Go buy one.
“Groggy” Ice Crusher
I bought this from Ikea, when Chris and I visited the new Logan store on Saturday. We also managed to have a minor accident in the car park. Bloody Swedish drivers. (I’m kidding, of course. I think they were actually Norwegian). Something good did come of the day though. Groggy is my new favourite kitchen thingamy. You put ice in the top bit, and then turn the handle, and it crushes it and it goes into the clear bottom bit. Then you can put it in a cup and have a sort of poor man (or woman)’s slushy. You can have whatever flavour you want (depending on what you have at home), plus the sound it makes as the blades crush the ice is really satisfying.
***
I didn’t end up going out last night. There were several reasons for this – none of which I’m going to bore you with now. I stayed in instead, and watched Happy Gilmore and spent some quality time with Napoleon. It was good to just do nothing, especially after the pretty full weekends I’ve had lately. I’m relaxing and recharging for next week, because there are quite a few things coming up, including Noelle’s 22nd Birthday (Wednesday 15th Nov), Noelle’s birthday party (Friday 17th Nov), and Lauren & Nathan’s engagement party (18th Nov). Then, the next week on Tuesday I have my second 8-week orthopedic review for my arm. It’s not that big a deal, it just seems like it because I used to go to the hospital twice a week for my arm, and now I haven’t been in two months.
I might go see if I can have a catnap, like Napoleon
This is just a quick one before Chris gets here (we’re going out tonight, feeling alright, gonna let our hair hang do-oown… Ew. Apologies everyone), I haven’t had the chance to post any pictures up here from Superstars since Mel gave me the CD on Friday, and I thought I would take the opportunity now before I get completely drunk and useless (it might be funnier that way, but I might do something I regret that would descimate what little dignity I actually have, and I wouldn’t be able to fix it until late tomorrow morning. I don’t want to take the chance of someone happening across this site when they’re actually looking for casbot grafiche or whatever that other site is that stole my URL and seeing me and saving pictures that I might upload and using them to blackmail me). Because I so care what random people think.
No, seriously I don’t. Do whatever you like. The real reason I’m not posting these later is because I’ll forget. Or I’ll be too busy playing my DS Lite. I’m in love with it. It’s sleek, smooth case; it’s clear, bright screen; it’s stylish stylus pen… Ok. I’m back. What was I talking about?
Oh yeah. Superstars photos. Here ya go!
Nov 072006
On Saturday night, Christian and I got to stay in a super duper amazing room at the Sofitel in Brisbane. I had booked just a suite (which was a good deal in itself) and when we went to check in the girl at the counter told us we had been upgraded to a premiere suite. It was called the Renoir Suite, next to the Cezanne Suite and just down from the Monet Suite (I think that’s the one with two floors).
Our room had:
A lounge room with a flat screen TV:
A bedroom with a king size bed with the bestest sheets and pillows imaginable:
A huge bathroom with a spa and a double-headed shower:
A safe (which we locked an empty evian bottle in when we left, and yesterday at work Mel said that they might charge my credit card for the cost of getting someone in to unlock it! 
)
An awesome view of the city (we were on the 29th floor):
The floorplan of our room (I stole this from the website because I am an 1337 $up4 h4×0r):
This was the sofitel club that we ate breakfast in the next morning. It looks really dark in the first photo because the light from the windows was so bright. But actually the room was nicely lit, as you can see in the second photo:
Breakfast the next morning was cool. There were a few reasons for this:
* It was free
* It was on the top level (level 30) and had an amazing view
* The club was brand new and cost $2 million to build (this I learned while I was on hold when I called reception because we had no hairdryer in our room)
* It was nicely furnished with armchairs and little tables
* There was lots of nice food
* They had fruit smoothies in little glasses randomly placed amongst the other foods
* They had little button mushrooms in a silver spherical bowl thingy
* The orange juice was nice
* We were comfortably full but not overly so, like you can sometimes be after yum cha
The awards were also on that night. Mel has all the photos from the awards, because I stupidly forgot to bring my camera with me, so I’ll have to wait until she gives me a copy of them to upload them. I got photos with the lions outside City Hall, and also as a drug addict on the bathroom floor (because it was all cracked and ugly, and not nearly as beautiful as the ones at Stamford Plaza).
BUT Benyamin and I did get our photo taken with Richard Wilkins (he was the emcee). It’s a bit blurry because Deb didn’t know that you have to hold the phone camera still when u take a photo:
Oct 122006
I’ve nearly finished making everything nice and spic and span for tomorrow night. I feel like scrubbing down the entire bathroom, because of the dubious clean it got on Saturday (despite my eventual assistance), but I don’t have the time or the energy. Already I’m feeling drained, because I had such a stressful day. I think that tomorrow will be extremely stressful. Hopefully all goes as planned. But there is that saying, “How do you make God laugh? Tell him your plans.” And God could be in the mood for laughing. Typical of all men! I’m going to say a million Hail Mary’s tomorrow, and pray to Pa a million times over. It felt like that’s all that was going through my head today… hailmaryfullofgracethelordiswithyou blessedartthouamongwomenandblessedisthefruitofthywomb Jesus
holymarymotherofgodprayforussinnersnowandatthehourofourdeaths AMEN.
Calum and I went for a walk after work today. He bought us both a hot chocolate from coffee club and we went and sat at the edge of the watersense garden in king George square. Some guy came up to Calum just as he lit up a cigarette and said, “can I have one of your cigarettes?” Calum said “no.” and the guy just went all weird and immediately said, “no? I don’t need any of yours anyway; I got some of me own! What would I need yours for? You can shove ‘em up your ass, you’d probably like that ya poofta!” He was such a derro. Calum did his usual “go back to Burpengary” and then later thought of awesome comebacks.
Apparently Calum has previously had a run-in with this guy in king George square, over cigarettes, of all things! He thought he might be in for a fight this afternoon, but luckily it didn’t escalate to that level.
Some photos, just because I haven’t done this in a while:
Baby Napoleon on the couch, on his first day at our house. Look how little he is!
A card that I found at the cheapo shop in the valley, just down from Brunswick St train station. I don’t get it.
I found this coaster somewhere, from when Kirra, Charmaine, Chris & I went to Noosa for a weekend. We went to some RSL or something for lunch, and there was a family of mullets. Chris wrote this on the coaster and threatened to give it to the teenage boy of the family.
Update! I just burnt my hand by pouring boiling hot water straight from the pot all over it. It kills.
Sep 202006
I went to bed at 8:30pm (that used to be our bedtime when we were younger. WEIRD! We never got to watch any cool shows like Melrose Place, Pacific Palisades, X-Files…) because I was tired and everything was boring and so I was falling asleep. And then I woke up at 3am! I thought it would just be like a little wake up and look around and then I go back to sleep again, like how a cat does, maybe even turn around in a circle as well. But no! I’m still awake! I had to write a comment on Christian’s blog because it was MINTERESTNG. Everyone has been talking about Frank Spencer lately, and I think it’s a sign. I think he’s going to come back and make fools out of us all, just as he made a fool out of himself all those times.
Oh it’s Lauren’s birthday TODAY! Happy birthday LAUREN. I hope you’re still asleep because it’s not good to get up this early on your birthday, then you have to carry the birthday positivity right through until you go to sleep and you’ll be all tired and it’ll be hard. Especially for you, who cannot cope with even just a little missed sleep.
I am never staying up for a whole night again and then going to work and then never recovering the sleep that I missed. It just stuffs me up too much. I keep going to bed early but I have an entire night of missed sleep to make up, and it’s going to take ages for me to get it back. Unless I sleep in for like… half the day on Saturday, but what if Saturday we can get Napoleon? I don’t want to waste time!
Zzzz. I think I’m probably tired enough to go to sleep now. Goodnight! Gute nacht!
Benyamin sent an email with this on it. It originally said “No! We no see your cat!” etc. But I made it funnier by changing it in paint. Yo momma. Lol.
This is Calum, Chrissie & me crying a river on Michelle’s last day as team leader. How will the new team leader go? We’ll have to wait and see!
Lol. Calum’s version: Bridge to Brisbane River. Record time: 5 seconds. Haha. For those who don’t get it: he means jumping off the bridge into the river. Probably the gateway.
No, these aren’t the same person! One is Johnny Depp in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? And the other is Penn Badgely from John Tucker Must Die. How weird is that?! Pretty weird. But good. Maybe if BOTH pictures were greyscale this would work better, but meh.
A nigel puppy, and puppy twins at Carindale pet shop.
More toys thanks to the toyshop at Carindale (can’t remember what it is called, but it’s near Myers)
Some disgusting game at the toyshop at Carindale. Check out the Q-tip pointed at HIS NOSE with something gross on the end. Nice realism.
A little part of the cityscape on the wall at New York Slice was ripped off, and this sticker stuck on there. POURQUOI, MES AMIS???
Chris enjoying some New York Slice.
Harley being a poseur (again!) at New York Slice on the most fun and longest (and most random) night out on record. GO HARLEEEEEY!
Peepee’s big break as a star on stuffonmycat.com. (No, it’s not actually Peepee, but it does look a lot like him, and he would wear a saddle! What were you thinking, Peepee??!)
Aug 102006
I don’t know why these latin phrases show up on my google homepage, but they’re interesting so I’m glad for them. Today was okay. I worked late, and couldn’t remember why, and I said to Kathryn, “Do you remember why I said I was going to work late?” Kathryn said she didn’t know, but perhaps it was because I was supposed to have an appointment yesterday and so I was going to come in late. But I didn’t because the bus came too late for me to make my appointment so I just went straight to work, and ended up getting there on time. Then I didn’t have lunch because I was meant to leave at about 1:30pm to make my 2:00pm appointment, but I didn’t end up going so I didn’t have lunch. I left at 3:55pm though, so I guess I got my lunch hour by leaving early. But I said to Kathryn tonight, “I don’t care if I was working back to make up for yesterday. I’m getting too much work done right now to stop, so I’ll just stay anyway.”
I caught a cab home tonight after gym because I was just so tired, and I was a little bit shaky because I feel very weak right now. Plus the bus wasn’t coming for another 40 minutes, and I didn’t have enough cash for a bus ticket anyway, and those girls in the pink cowboy hats were walking around like they’d never heard of wearing pants… And then tonight I had a stupid argument with Calum because I can’t communicate my thoughts and feelings sufficiently or without making someone else feel like I’m belittling them. I feel kind of crap. I don’t want to undermine the value of anyone else’s opinion. I can’t even say what I really mean now, and I’m not actually talking to anyone. What is wrong with me?
We have awards night this Saturday. I’m not really looking forward to it. I don’t know how to do my hair, what shoes to wear, and I’m not going to feel comfortable in the clothes that I have. I won’t feel comfortable conforming to someone else’s ideal, living in someone else’s world where the rules are very strict on what should and shouldn’t be said, done, worn… I want to crawl under a rock and not come out until after it’s all over. Or I want to wear something really outrageous and say, “I don’t care about your expectations.” I don’t want to care about expectations and living up to what people want. It seems like my entire life is spent trying to be the person that I think people want me to be, and then I end up not knowing who I actually am when there isn’t anyone else around for me to please. How can I make you happy? That’s the main thing I’m thinking whenever I am around other people. Or, How can I make you see that I’m worthwhile? So I end up acting out, acting up, anything to be seen or heard, just not ignored or dismissed as unimportant. I feel like I’m lying because I actually do think I am unimportant, so when people do pay attention to me, I feel like it’s a sham, they don’t know who I am, I can’t tell them how I really feel or what I’m really thinking because I’ll be rejected.
I love my friends. Who are they?
May 142006
It’s a strange phenomenon, this notion parents have that they always know what’s best for their children, in every aspect of their lives and at any given stage. The belief, this knowledge they hold, seems to be a given. It just… is. But no one is infallible. Surely at some point perhaps a parent’s ideals may not be in the best interests of the child… surely at some point the child has to break away and make their own choices independent of what the parent thinks is the best step… What a parent may see as a golden opportunity, something to grab onto with both hands while thanking God for the once-in-a-lifetime chance, the child may see as something too difficult, too onerous, and could even come to view it as a punishment for past bad behaviour or something lacking in their personality. The truth is, it may be a great opportunity. But whether or not this great opportunity is worth the heartache, anxiety, feelings of not measuring up… that’s another thing altogether. I don’t think that parents should be so quick to judge their children as lazy or taking the easy way out… It could more be a case of damage control, self-preservation, or not wanting to set themselves up for a fall.
Anyway… I hope Rosie knows that I like the person she is. I hope mum learns to show her a little more respect and treat her a little more like a 17 year old capable of making her own decisions and accepting the consequences, than a belligerent and apathetic 12 year old who doesn’t know what she wants. I hate it when parents say that. “You’re only (insert age here), you don’t know what you want.” Let me tell you what I want! I’m so glad I’m past that age. But I wish that I had fought with the knowledge I have now of life outside parental control and dependence.
So I just got home from Townsville today. Feeling better and worse at the same time. My eyes are irritated now, and my sinuses are blocked up, but I don’t feel so nauseous and if I have a temperature i don’t know about it because it’s so nice and cool here. Also my throat is better, my knees don’t hurt so much, and I my cough has eased off a bit. I think I’m allergic to North Queensland. Pointless piece of information for the day: today was my first solo flight. I’ve never flown by myself before. I felt overwhelmed by the things I had to find out because before, I’d always just followed whoever else was there and assumed they knew what they were doing. Anyway, it’s not a big deal or anything. I realised that I hadn’t relied THAT much on other people I’d flown with, because I had figured things out for myself before. Big deal right? yeah, i’m an idiot.
Yesterday mum drove up Castle Hill in Helen’s Forrester, and halfway up got so scared that she slowed to like 5km/hr. We came to the first car park and she had to stop and get out, because she said she didn’t mind walking but she couldn’t drive anymore, it was too scary. I was stunned. I used to be the one afraid of heights, but I think I got over it because I wasn’t scared at all. Mum was terrified! She said “I won’t be able to go back down again. We’ll have to get someone to come and drive us back.” We got out and started walking up to the next level of carparks, and mum started crying and called Helen. We got there, I climbed further up to the top of the Hill while mum and Yvonne waited in the carpark. Helen and Cherie came to pick us up a little bit later. I was laughing the entire time, but I felt kind of bad about it. Standing on the top of the rock was beautiful. The view was amazing, the air was so clear and finally cool. There was a strong breeze blowing and everything was fresh. Also, you could see the rain and stormclouds moving across the city from up there.
At the party that night, everyone was given a piece of paper with a name on it and also the name of the partner they had to find. My name was Susan Sarandon, and my Partner was Tim Robbins. I talked to quite a few people and ended up asking an elderly man with a white moustache.
Me:”Are you Tim Robbins?”
Him: No.
Me: “Who are you?”
Him: I’m Tony McDermott
Me: “Oh… have you been given a name yet?”
Him: “No…”
Me: “Well, Noelle is giving them out. Go get a name, and you’ll have to find your partner.”
In a strange twist, about 20 minutes later the same guy came up to me and said “I’m Tim Robbins”. I thought he was joking at first, and I said “Hahah! yeah right.” and he said “I am!” So he showed me his piece of paper. Then we had to work on the questions. Answering IN CHARACTER: What was your most embarrassing moment as a couple? What do you like best about your partner? If you could change anything about your partner, what would it be? Tony/Tim suggested we get up on stage to tell our answers, as they were taking answers from various couples gathered around the microphone. So we did. Mum was apparently really surprised, and the next morning said to me, “You were a little social butterfly! You were talking to everyone! I didn’t even talk to as many people as you did!” To be honest, I don’t remember all the people I talked to. Whenever I have alcohol, I get this anarchistic urge to make incendiary remarks or challenging comments to people I don’t even know very well. I think it’s funny. I want to play pranks on everyone… I don’t think I did, and I dont’think I have that great an imagination when I’m drunk anyway. I was very drunk last night, in front of almost the entire family. I think everyone expected me to be sick today, especially Laura, because they all seemed surprised that I was up before anyone else, showered, dressed and packed and ready for my flight. Right now I am tired as tired can be. I need to get some sleep.
View from the top of Castle Hill. I kept calling it Castle Rock. Really it is just a great big chunk of orange rock dumped right in the middle of an otherwise ridiculously flat area. There are NO hills in Townsville. Castle Hill has a white figure painted on the front of it, that you can see from a long way off. We saw it from the plane coming in. The story goes that one night some people got very drunk and lowered themselves down the cliff-face on ropes, and painted an angel/s onto the rock. I don’t know what happened to the people. I guess they were ok.
The view from the window of the plane flying into Townsville. This was Rosie’s first plane trip ever, and she was fairly anxious when we took off. By the time we landed however, she was nonplussed.
Me with blue hair before getting it cut (only the highlights are blue/green).
The Matriarch & Patriarch of the family: Yvonne & Norm. Norm told stories like Grandpa Simpson – that is, he’d often start them halfway through, they usually had no point, and they usually had no discernable end either. Often he would just trail off, or you’d wait for a lull in conversation and look for an exit. I adore them both. I have no grandparents alive so they fill the role temporarily as surrogate grandmother/grandfatherly type figures.
I’m not actually crying. I don’t even know if my playstation is dead. But I sort of think it might be, because it thinks that it can’t read any discs that I put in there. I think it’s just not trying hard enough. You can do it little PS2!!! If you believe in yourself, you can do it!
So anyway, I was going to watch a movie but now I can’t, and I shall just have to sit here and be bored. Work today was good because I got to finish early (I still have to make the time up somehow) and also because I was doing the easy, repetitive task-based job today. It’s nice to have a break. Work was also bad because I had an argument with someone, which really just involved me going quiet and looking unimpressed until they went away. Good. Until Kirra came back from lunch, then I wasn’t so quiet. We had funny email wars today with Chris. I can’t remember what they were about, but they were funny.
We’ve got Penny’s engagement party tomorrow night and I still don’t know what I’m wearing, because if I go to Chris’s party afterwards (there’s every chance that I will) then everyone will probably be going out after that, so I need to wear something engagement-party-ish, but also going-out-in-the-valley-ish. I could go shopping tomorrow morning but I think I want to sleep in.
Rosie called me today and said, “I’ve got to catch the bus today from the transit centre, but I don’t know where that is!” and so I tried explaining it to her, but I could tell she didn’t get it. But she ended up finding out that the train that goes from our place, while not going straight to Roma Street, has a connecting line at Central and so she could get off at the transit centre and didn’t have to walk there after all. I couldn’t believe she didn’t know where the transit centre was, I mean, she’s caught the bus home before! Who doesn’t know where Roma St Station is? She’s got another two hours on the bus before she gets there (i think), so hopefully they play a good movie or something to keep her entertained.