Well, it's that time again. A combination of work, moving, lack of internet and being lazy has meant that I've not really done a lot these past few weeks except be slothful. It has been quite good--I have watched seasons 1-3 of 30 Rock (why did I not get into this show earlier? It is excellent and amazingly hilarious) and assorted movies, including (finally) The Darjeeling Limited and Waitress (both excellent in their own ways), swum a bit, and co-hosted an epic New Year's party that managed not to suck.

That's not even what this post is about though. We are about the books here, people. Ambitiously, I would like to beat last year's total.

( Books read )

( Currently reading )

So, I have the new episode of Lost buuuuuuuuut I don't want to watch it because I'm scared? BUT I REALLY NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED.

I ALSO NEED SOME BREAKFAST.

(My housemate is listening to The Ketchup Song, and this is actually worrying me. Like, is this serious? Or is she just making fun of it? Is her boyfriend listening to it? WHY IS IT ON HER COMPUTER IN THE FIRST PLACE?)

So I fixed the internet yesterday (a long story involving moving and transferring the connection and resetting modems and misreading passwords and etcetera) and remembered that I haven't been on here for awhile. Hello, eljay land.

It has been raining rather a lot this past week--par for course this time of year, as it is the beginning of the cyclone season--and it has been lovely. Nothing has flooded badly enough to be inconvenient (though our downstairs did, and some of my un-shelved books were casualties), and waking up/falling asleep/lying in bed watching The Office to the sounds of the rain beating down on the roof and frogs croaking and water splishing gently just outside my open windows is really really awesome and calming. I am going to be sad when it ends, and not just because it will be hot again and the mosquitoes will move in.

Not much else to report. I've been working busily, both at my actual job and in organising my things in our new house. I've also watched a lot of TV, not going to lie. Bones loves me, Grey's Anatomy hates me, and 30 Rock and The Office are wondering why I didn't watch them until now. (WHY? I don't know). I am also feeling a bit nostalgic for Dawson's Creek, and wondering if I shouldn't track it down. Hmm.

Other than that, I made pasta this evening. It was pretty good. Off to maybe do partying people things, or watch more Office. WE SHALL SEE.

( Also, a meme. I cannot remember who I got this from.  )

So I'm watching The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou again. I have had ocean on the brain lately, which of course necessitates a rewatch of this movie, and perhaps a trip to the aquarium. Mmm. That would be fun.

I've also been doing internet quizzes. This one, courtesy of evil_little_dog amused me, mostly because it's fairly accurate.







Off to ... do things. I don't know.

The rain right now is amazing. I've been listening to it on and off all night and wish I could just lie here all day in the dark and luxuriate in the cool freshness of it all.

Of course I am off to work, and I have no umbrella. Good work, life.

(I can't even blame this on moving, because I don't think an umbrella has ever lived in this house.)

Hanging out at home after a fairly civilised Christmas day. Work managed not to feel like work at all, because we closed some beds, which meant little movement and thus little actual work, and one of my co-workers brought cold roast, salads & fresh bread for a yummier Christmas lunch than the one supplied to us by the hospital. Went to my grandparents' after work for a second Christmas lunch (mmm prawns), at which I was massively surprised to receive my grandfather's super old, leather-bound, 3 volume Shakespeare set. I have coveted this for years, but I had no idea my grandparents had even noticed, plus they generally just donate money to a charity for us instead of giving us Christmas presents, so I am quite chuffed.

After grandparents', went to parents' house and unwrapped presents there (books, a coffee press, babushka doll measuring cups, & some glasses). Also had some dinner out of leftover brunch (croissants & baked ham), and then went swimming with siblings & parents. Excellent cooling off--it was quite a hot day, like it often is in December in Townsville--and we beat each other up with pool noodles. I think I have a bruise forming on the inside of my right knee.

In other stuff, have been having generally good times. One of my friends is visiting and we have spent some time catching up, and I discovered the joys of ordering things off the internet (you don't have to go to a shop! things get mailed to you!). May have something developing on the romantic horizon, but that depends on me utilising a particular phone number in my possession, which, hmm, not so much. We'll see.

Back to the moment, I was considering watching some Christmas tv, buuuuuuuut now I am tired, and I started watching 30 Rock. So maybe not.

Acutally, I lied. I'm going to watch all the Christmas episodes of Bones. Yeeeess.

Hope you all have a lovely holiday and New Year!

Mmm, so another Saturday night. Excellent.

Good things in this instant:

+ I have gin.
+ I am going out to party tonight.
+ Work was ridiculous in its lack of work (this occurs each time I work on this particular ward.)
+ I finally made up a spreadsheet to catalogue for my belongings (because I have to take out insurance so that in the event my house burns down I will be compensated for the hundreds of books and etcetera that would be burninated) and it was both easier and better than expected (I like organising things in this way--I like filing at work too--which is probably fairly anal, but whatever.)
+ We have just confirmed that we are moving to a house with a POOL.

Bad things in this instant:
+ While I am partying tonight, it will be truncated partying as I am returning to work at 7am.
+ Housemate B, who is taking Housemate A, Housemate A's boyfriend, and me to said party, is not home yet.
+ It is currently so humid my glasses are a bit steamed around the edges.
+ I discovered the beginnings of a split seam on one of my favourite shirts and it appears to be irreparable. WAH.
+ We are moving and packing sucks.

So, nice and balanced, then.

Forgive me for being an English nerd, but I've been kicking off my uni break with some Literature, and have come to consider current attitudes towards poetry.

( Cut for tl;dr, lots of personal opinion, and general rambling. )

To finish, here are couple of poems that I love, one Australian and one not:

( Some Dawe and Auden )

People should feel free to disagree with any of this. Or agree, whatever. :P

The Movie Of Your Life Is An Indie Flick

You do things your own way - and it's made for colorful times. Your life hasn't turned out how anyone expected, thank goodness! Your best movie matches: Clerks, Garden State, Napoleon Dynamite

(brought to you courtesy of evil_little_dog)

I was going to write something along with this, but between then and now 4 episodes of Lost happened and I'm now too tired to function properly. Perhaps tomorrow.

Exciting news: NEW MACBOOK ARRIVED TODAY. Did not actually expect it until tomorrow at the earliest, so this is pleasant, to say the least.

Haven't been around so much lately--have had exams and final uni things, and also went off to the Island last week to chill & study (and to re-watch season 1 of Lost for the first time since it aired, but we'll talk about that another time)--but my final exam is tomorrow afternoon and then I will be on holidays (sort of, if you count working 30-hour weeks as being "on holiday"). So maybe there will be more time for internet things then.

On the TV front, recent Bones and Mad Men have killed me ded, by sheer awesome. ( Some thoughts, and, not going to lie, some squee to follow. )

So, that is really all. Should probably go and study for a bit (sadface. I think I've mentioned how much I hate marketing communication.)

Edited to add: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, bewarethespork. You are probably studying, like a good med student should be, so may your birthday wish be good luck for your exams. :)

Things that are good about today:



+ First and foremost (and most recent, as it occurred perhaps an hour and a half ago, MY HOUSEMATE (C) MADE ME CAKE & WROTE (HALF) MY NAME ON IT. I LOVE IT. (We often--myself and Housemate B--visit C at her workplace, where she creates excellent coffee & cake concoctions to show her love for us. SHE IS AMAZING.)

+ Melbourne Cup day today. Am a bit lucky when it comes to horse racey things, I have to say, but when one grows up with a father whose idea of a perfect Saturday involves the form guide and Sky racing (you guys, there is a classic horse racing channel on cable, which has races from the 70s and 80s, and talks about how such-and-such was the horse of his time, etc., and MY DAD WATCHES IT. EVERYTHING IS BROWN AND BEIGE AND PEOPLE WEAR THOSE HUGE GLASSES AND BART CUMMINGS'S EYEBROWS ARE EVEN MORE OUT OF CONTROL. Ahhm, yes) being a bit lucky is probably inevitable. So I drew the winner in the sweep at the pub where I had lunch. Being at the pub was quite incidental to Melbourne Cup day--I was there with work mates, and actually had forgotten all about That Hallowed Horse Race. Great lunch, though.

+ I also solved the mystery of how the flyscreen from one of the windows in my study was dislodged, the solution basically being: cat jumped on screen to chase gecko; screen came loose; cat, screen, and possibly gecko FELL OUT OF WINDOW. I noticed the flyscreen was missing on Sunday evening, but I thought someone might have knocked it out the night before--we had a Halloween party and everyone was maggoted--and though I suspected cat involvement later--cat jumped on screen door, which is not uncommon, but from outside, which is--I didn't confirm until inspecting the flyscreen today, and finding it rent by the panicked clawings of a feline in freefall. OH, CAT. DON'T EVER STOP BEING SO AMUSING.

+ Other highlights of the day include not being at work (have had some messy shifts lately), unlocking new stuff on WiiFit (Housemate B got it for Guitar Hero and MarioKart, and somehow it's WiiFit that has me hooked BUT I AM BEATING EVERYONE so that's a bit understandable; am nothing if not a bit competitive), and reading about things bogans like (perhaps elitist, but, um, at least I can spell my name correctly? To think I may have been called Emar) (I may be a bit bitter about this, because I am tired of being looked at like an idiot when I ask people how to spell their names to ensure that whatever bugfuck spelling is on our system is actually right & not a typo. MY GENERATION, WE MUST BACKLASH THIS TREND though I think we are now actually perpetuating it. SADFACE, GUYS.)

Should probably go. I think the caffeine is kicking in.

Though I began my day productively--went to a lecture, researched an essay in the library--my afternoon followed a bit like this:



New magazines, coffee, and pumpkin bread that Brumby's gave me for free. Awesome, right?

So now I am off to play trivia at the RSL. And also to turn off the sprinkler (we killed our lawn, almost, by accident. I've made it my personal project to nurse it back to health).

An idea of what my day has comprised of so far:



That's right: coffee, violin playing, and photographs. GREAT DAY, RIGHT?

I do have some history work to get on with, though, so will have to shuffle off and do that.

On a side-note, I really love my violin, even though I'm not exactly an excellent player or anything like that--I stopped taking lessons when I hit year 11, and this is the first time since school that I've played at all regularly. Anyway, I had a dream the other night in which my violin was destroyed and I had to play something else, and I've got to tell you, that was almost nightmare territory for me. I LOVE IT THAT MUCH (look, it's pretty, ok?). Also, there is nothing better for destressing when I've had a really shitty day than coming home and playing the fuck out of something on the violin. (I did it the other day, and when I was finished I came out of my room to find that my two housemates and Housemate 1's boyfriend had left the house, and I had this moment of OMG I SCARED THEM OFF WITH MY ASSAULT ON VIVALDI. AWESOME.)

Hanging out at home drinking beer & studying The Labor Years: Whitlam* to Keating** (will soon move onto the Howard*** years, which reminds me of the documentary The Howard Years, which reminds me of Peter Reith**** coming off a bit of a fuckwit re: Children Overboard crisis, which then reminds me of the First Dog on the Moon 2008 Christmas comic, which featured Kevin Rudd's***** dog saying in response to The Howard Years, "I'd forgotten Peter Reith was such a fuckwit". OH THE HILARITY)(the beer is incidental, a carry-over from dinner. Does it aid the study? I am not sure, and I'm also not sure how I've gotten this far in my uni career without attempting to write an essay drunk. CLEARLY LETTING THE TEAM DOWN THERE.)

BUT what I wanted to say, actually, was that I am baffled a bit by the total lack of history in schools. AND that Australian politics are a bit hilarious. How much of a drama queen was Whitlam? "Well may we say, God save the Queen, because nothing will save the Governor-General"******. And Malcolm Fraser's******* opinion of Gough? "Oh, he's a nice, entertaining person to have at dinner. Not quite as arrogant as he used to be." LOL.

Also I would like to apologise to all of you who aren't Australian (and probably some of you who are, seeing that we have basically NO HISTORY CURRICULUM because those who know these things keep having fights about what Australian history actually is) and as such have no idea what I'm talking about. See notes below.

SOME NOTES:
*Gough Whitlam, Prime Minister from 1972-1975, whose government was sacked in 1975 by the Governor-General John Kerr. First Labor PM for donkey's years after Robert Menzies's conservative reign.
** Paul Keating, PM from 1991-1996, last Labor PM before conservative reign of Howard. Big on Australia becoming a republic.
*** John Howard, PM from 1996-2007. A controversial reign, to say the least, contracted in part due to the total lack of Labor credibility (sorry, Kim) until K.Rudd rocked up with his Kevin07 t-shirts.
**** Peter Reith, Defence Minister in 2001, heavily involved in the Children Overboard scandal of 2001, which he attempted to defend rather hilariously in The Howard Years (look, my dad & I found it funny, whatever.)
***** Kevin Rudd, PM since 2007. Labor, good at election campaigns, known for his many revolutions and stimulus packages.
****** Governor-General, the Queen's representative and therefore head of state.
******* Malcolm Fraser, PM from 1975-1983. Liberal. Etc.

GOD AM NERD. MUST GO DRINK NOW.

... and taking another quick study break.




I WANT TO SLEEEEEEEEEEEEP. Or, actually, watch Glee, but I have denied myself new TV (no lie, this only works because Bones isn't on because of baseball or some other rubbish) until the semester is finished.

When I said, hey, I'll edit our assignment? I WANT TO GO BACK IN TIME AND STOP MYSELF FROM DOING THAT. Even though I did it because I knew it was the only way I'd be happy with it, judging from the quality of the work before I took it on.

But this happens with every group assignment I do ever. I AM TORN BETWEEN BLAMING FALLING LITERACY STANDARDS AND MYSELF. I'm not sure that's exactly productive, though, so now I've unburdened myself a bit, I'm going to get back to it and hope that it's done within the hour.

RUNNING ON THREE AND A HALF HOURS SLEEP & I DIDN'T EVEN FINISH THE ASSIGNMENT. OMG.

So, hanging out in the refect at uni, having a bite to eat before I meet my group members at the library to continue the assault on the marketing assignment of DOOM. Things of the good this morning include the liberal use of red ink on draft of said assignment (ripping things to shreds with a red ink pen always makes me feel better) and the local paper not sucking as badly as usual. Also, the drink machine outside the library did not eat my $4 this morning when it was sold out of water and it COULD HAVE so I am counting that as a plus.

I AM FLYING, MY PRETTIES, FLYING AWAY.

So, I'm watching Alias and all I can hear is Lost music. This is kind of annoying, if only because new Lost will not be gracing the internet television screens until next year, but also distracting because obviously, I am watching Alias, not Lost.

In other news, the wind is unbelievable at the moment. It's great, because it's counteracting the heat, but I'm also worried about my study blowing away (because why shut the windows? I don't have a fan in here). There is also a baby goat (or a kid, whatever) next door, for whatever reasons, and it is baahing away in a very cute way. It lets me pretend that I'm living in the country at the kind of place that has ducks and chickens and horses and a baby goat, and that's pretty awesome. Apparently our neighbours had ducklings there last weekend, and I'm pretty pissed that I missed that. I love ducks, and while part of that is attributable to my friend having ducks and ducks at the park, it's definitely got a lot to do with Jemima Puddleduck (who doesn't love a duck that wears a bonnet?)

(I have just now reread that story, not really remembering it, and it's actually kind of awful. I never realised that she was so dim--like, she goes to a fox to find a place to lay her eggs, and then gathers herbs & onions for the fox to eat her as a roast dinner, and is then rescued by dogs who eat her eggs. Some text: "Jemima Puddle-Duck was escorted home in tears on account of those eggs", and then, after she lays some more eggs, of which only four hatch, "Jemima Puddle-Duck said that it was because of her nerves; but she had always been a bad sitter". I AM SO CONFLICTED BECAUSE I'VE ALWAYS THOUGHT OF JEMIMA AS AWESOME BUT THE TEXT DOES NOT AGREE. But she is clearly a victim of gender stereotyping and positioning, and is punished for trying to be independent, which makes sense because this is Victorian children's lit, sooooooo in my head she can still be awesome, in a martyred, victim of her time kind of way. I still like ducks though.)


( LOOK AT HER. POOR JEMIMA. )

I am a bit scared to reread the rest of my Beatrix Potter set, though. I don't want to know what else I have been mistaken about. BUT POOH IS STILL OKAY, RIGHT?

Actually one of my favourite books when I was young was Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book, and I know that's okay, because it features squished fairies and the protagonist having to fend off sleazy suitors, and that can usually never be bad.

(Ha ha, Vaughn is pretending to be drunk. That is actually one of my favourite things on TV, people pretending to be drunk.)

I hosted a group meeting for a uni assignment tonight (marketing communication, kill me now) and one my my group members brought doughnuts. You always see people doing it on TV (I particularly remember Giles's upset at no jellies) but does it ever happen for real? APPARENTLY IT DOES.

Much has happened in the past few days. Bones happened, for example, and it was AWESOME. ( 5x05--A Night At The Bones Museum )

It was also my brothers' birthdays today (one is 17, the other 21) so we went to my grandparents' for dinner, which was LAMB, which proves my grandmother loves me (Equation: LAMB=LOVE. If you cook me lamb, I think it's safe to say that I will be yours). AND she taught me how to make mint sauce, which was fairly cool, though for awhile it just smelled like making a mojito, and I got a bit lost in yearning for a nice cool mojito from Cactus ... it has been a bit hot lately.

Other stuff: have worked a lot (back again tomorrow, bleh), though managed to catch up with mates on Friday night. Saw Whip It on Thursday and quite enjoyed it. It had the effect of making me want to watch both Juno and Arrested Development (Alia Shawkat=AWESOME NO QUESTIONS), and I ended up choosing Juno, which then had the effect of making me want to watch Alias because Jennifer Garner=HEARTBREAKING AWESOME. Right now, actually, I am watching season 2 of Alias, but am having trouble getting to the end, because I know that Francie is dead and Will's going to have to go into witness protection, and Syd's going to disappear and VAUGHN'S GOING TO MARRY LAUREN, and while I like season 3, it was pretty rough on Syd, I have to say (and also on Will).

(I thought about tagging the Alias stuff, but I feel like spoilers are irrelevant at this point? They are, right?)

I FEEL LIKE I WAS GOING TO SAY MORE. UM.

OH guys, before I go, I apologise for the capslock. It's perhaps excessive, and the only explanation I can offer is that I spent the last two hours consuming sugar & hating marketing and that there has somehow been a reaction that involves extended capslock.

:)

I have attempted to give my journal a makeover in honour of remembering that it exists. The makeover attempts have been partially successful: I am a big fan of my profile page, but I am not so sold on the actual journal layout itself, though I do love the colours. So, I will maybe come back to this later?

There are too many things to possible update since I last updated (over a year, omg) but at the same time, not much has changed. Still reading too many books and watching excessive amounts of television, while having no clear idea of what my future holds, or even what I want it to hold. Classic early-twenties ennui? PERHAPS. However, I plan to combat it with lots of Bones, pretty pictures, and re-reading a Douglas Coupland. I also plan to properly start one of my novels of contained family dysfunction, which may very possibly be accompanied by liberal amounts of Tanqueray gin, and maybe organise my bills.

(THIS POSSIBLY SOUNDS DEPRESSING? IDEK, HONESTLY. I'M EXCITED.)

I also plan to photoblog. Today, for instance, I made banana bread. Normally, I would post a picture of it, but my oven is the dodgiest of dodge ovens, and the top is all burnt. So, instead, a photo of desk detritus (ie: what I stare at while avoiding marketing assignments):

-+-

(I actually may have to get back to you with that photo, as dear old eljay is having some problems uploading the image I wished to use.)

So. CHEERIO.