Robert Fiske's report from Lebanon tonight on SBS news was really interesting and brutally honest, which was refreshing.

He called both Hezbollah and the Israelies liars, which they obviously have been about many things in this war, and discussed the way that there was only going to be more hatred created by everything that's happening there. He also showed some newspaper articles with pictures of dead Lebanese children who'd been killed in Isrealie bombing raids.

Then we get news of the disgusting anti-semitism and anti-Muslim sentiment from people who are taking extreme actions, like those who attacked the Sydney synagogue. Kind of reminds me of an article that was in The Age (I think it was? Might have been the Sydney Morning Herald) about how this war has brought out the bigots on all sides *sigh*

No-one's doing the right thing here. How difficult is it to work for peace anyways? Can people just not be bothered making an effort? Do they just not care? Or do they really enjoy seeing little kids bombed to bits?

Maybe this is just taking a simplistic view-point, but really couldn't people make more of an effort for peace!?

Oh my goodness!

Men in uniform overload! There were a whole lot of policemen at the funeral across the road, and honestly, even though it was a time of sadness, who can say that guys in police uniforms aren't delectable?

*happy sigh*

I think this was one of the most fantastic weekends, really.

Friday... You can't beat shopping and finding funky things you wanted (apart from boots, but the season is going in to Spring/Summer, so that just has to wait). And a downright hilarious vid of a coworker of a friend doing downright hilarious things ~ muchos gracias to Drewsy for that! *mwah, mwah*

Saturday... Catching up with friends. That was just so much fun :D

*insert wild happy dancing*

Oh, plus another hilarious vid from Drewsy, which has been duly forwarded to loads of people who will never, ever look at hamsters in the same way again... (hello there, my name's Harry the hamsters, and I'm looking for a female...)

*gigglesnort*

Classic.

Sunday... Well, it was a Sunday. Did the yard work, took the dog for a long walk in the sun, took pix of things, did a whole lot of cooking, made bread (for the first time ever), relaxed, enjoyed things. And the did have those issues with 3 mobile lying weasle-pants line and whatnot, but that seems fine now (lying weasle-pants!).

Soy yo :)

Up the airy mountain and down the rushy glenn...

A freaky little seed-pod I found.

Waterwheel~~~

Snowdrops through the rocks. Like tiptoe through the tulips, but not quite.

More bizarre striped flowers!

Puppy from another angle...

My precious lil' puppy :D

3, the non-magical number

Hmm... 3 mobile annoys me quite regularly.

Today my signal disappeared for about four hours. I figured it must be some sort of outage or something akin to that, but on the three hour mark, it got kind of annoying! I had SMSs to send, etc. So I rang the 3 helpline.

Asked if there were any service outages and was told no, there weren't that they had been informed of. Was then told to turn off my phone and turn it back on again (which seems to be the only help that the 3 helpline can provide - thank God they don't run the depression helpline). I'd done that repeatedly for the three hours until I rang the helpline, so we went thru some other things to "fix" it.

Still no signal...

So I was told that I'd have to go to the nearest 3 store and pay to get it repaired or that it would be much simpler if I just bought a new phone altogether because there was obviously something wrong with my phone or SIM card. Hmm!

Anyways, I ended the call, decided to wait for the signal to return. And return it did! It was a service outage, after all, by the seem of it. And from now on, I shall call the 3 helpline "lying weasle-pants hotline."

Update: In the wee hours of the morning, the 3 service was undergoing repairs and maintainance, according to the balance check thing. Which is handy, I'm sure. But as I said before, lying weasle-pants! *cough, cough*

I love y'all!

Today was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sharona and Jesus were in town and I headed out to meet up with them. There were also a few other people from uni at Bonnie's place, which was awesome :) Lunch, laughs, lots of catching up...

I couldn't believe it's been about two years since I'd seen Jesus. And the funniest thing was that at the train station while I was waiting for them to arrive was that there was a group of Mormon guys standing around near me. They didn't talk to me, but I thought that if they did, I'd have to say, "Sorry, I'm waiting for Jesus..."

*teehee*

But yes, it was so much fun :)

Great to meet new people, fantastic to see old and much-loved people, seriously, you couldn't punch the smile off of my face right now :)

Yesterday's blogs...

I wrote these yesterday and meant to post them on here, but didn't, so here goes anyways :)

Christmas tree rage!!!

While shopping, I noticed they have CHRISTMAS TREES IN THE SHOPS ALREADY!!!

What the ($*#&(*#@&$!?

It's JULY!

Plus there's decorations, too. This has to be totally insane. But seeing as they had hot-cross buns in stores in January, which was months and months and three eternities before Easter, why am I surprised?

Still, doesn't it kinda make Christmas just seem like a total crass commercialisation?

And...

How peculiar o.0

For once I'm hoping my mate Bill's high because he just said he and I should get married and have kids. Or that I should at least move back up to Sydney to live with him *lol*

Too many people are suggesting the kid thing lately. Lord knows why. Not my idea of fun, really.

And I think I need to start brushing up on my German if I'm meant to be going to Germany next year. So instead, I'm watching Spanish movies *lol*

I was just talking about listening to people vent, being asked for advice, etc with Karina and how wearing it can be after a while. No, it's not a bad thing that people vent to you and share with you - that's really good.

But it can be tiring when it comes to people asking for advice repeatedly on the same topic and never taking the advice you have to offer or stopping asking you. In the end, you may as well say to them, "Well, hey, why don't you staple a coconut to your forehead too, because you're about as likely to do that as anything else I've mentioned...?"

Unless the advice we give is so shockingly awful that it's not worth taking? But then why would people constantly come back asking for more? Meh. Other than that, I seem to have cut my toe somehow and am not sure how I managed to do so while wearing shoes and thick socks.

Absolutely beeeeee-zarre!

Found this questionaire thing and thought that, as I love shoes, it'd be good to fill out!

How many pairs of shoes do you have?
Too many. Not entirely sure how many there are at the moment, but I want more ~ have the desire to own more boots, if there are more to be had with the Winter season ending.
Some of the highlights include:
> Cherry-red 6-and-a-half-inch spike heeled platforms
> Purple suede with a silver leather decorative bit flats (above)
> Green satin heels with decorative "pearls" clustered above the toes
> Knee-high black leather boots (which need the bottom bit heeled again - must find a place to do that)
> Red leather (with real snakeskin decorative panels) 1980s stilettos from Spain
> Trusty 10-hole Doc Martens from High School days (still wish I'd gotten the ones with the Union Jack in leather bits over the toe, tho!)
> Gold goddess shoes that tie up in thin leather strands around the legs
> Silver shoes from Schmoe's wedding

Total: 30+, 40+? Somewhere around 50, let's say?

Most expensive pair of shoes: Probably the Doc Martens, I think. The others have all been expensive enough, but nothing around the $280 mark. Have yet to venture into the world of designer shoes, of course ;)

Last shoe you bought: Not quite sure, it's a blur to me...

How many shoes under your work desk: Two pairs ~ both purple. One pair I'm wearing, the other pair are just there as the reliable flats.

Parenting, death and stockings

I wouldn't consider myself as the sort of person who relishes the idea of popping out a few loinfruit, but one of my friends has said to me a couple times lately that I'd make a great parent.

It's a bit of a strange idea - not really sure what kind of a parent I'd be. Probably somewhat odd, occasionally disorganised, often in a rush, generally happy kind of one. Which probably describes how the majority of parents are, so there's no real surprise there, is there?

Still, not about to start on production *lol*

And in other thoughts, it's a year today since my Nanna died. And I'm wearing cheerful neon-pink fishnet stockings to keep the day happy. The pic is looking down at said stockings from above. Maybe how God might see them. Or something... And for some reason, it just reminded me of how a school photographer we had used to call me "lollylegs."

My goodness, how quickly a year flies by, though.

Watching a doco on SBS about experiemental drug trials performed in India that are apparently not abiding by the Neuremburg Code of Clinical Ethics.

The dishonesty and disregard for human life by drug companies is astounding, even though their apparent aim is to aid life and longevity.

Unauthorised human experimentation, using those on the poverty line who are desperate for medical help to perform these "clinical trials" without telling them that the medicines are experimental, testing drugs that aren't approved for testing in Western countries because of concerns for patient safety, denying patients already available treatments, etc.

Outsourcing gone mad?

One particularly disturbing one was a trial conducted on psychiatric patients where they were denied their regular medication, given nothing for three weeks, were not told it was part of a trial and then given the experimental drugs.

There are estimates that 2 million Indians will be part of the experimental trials by 2010. So how many people are going to be killed, maimed or emotionally damaged from it all? Nothing like people being described as a "means to an end."

Boots! :D

And this is why they say that plastic bags that things come in shouldn't be used as toys, apparently. Don't want children learning about exit bags too quickly, I suppose ;)

But in all seriousness, kiddliwinks, don't try it at home. The smell in the bag of new plastic and new paint is almost overwhelming... Eye-wateringly so!

2006: A Heater Odyssey

*cue classical music used for 2001: A Space Odyssey*


*derrrrrn deeeeeeeeeerrrrrn deeeeeeeeeeerrrrn*


*da derrrrrrrrrrrrn!*


*der der derrrrrn dern dern dernnn dern daaaaaaaaa DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA*


Meh, you get the idea. But I'd like to introduce my new, space-age, Dr Who-looking heater! The heater that was passed down from my grandparents to my parents to me *sniff, tear, clutch tissues* died last week. Well, it still works, but not too well. So I bought a new heater today during lunch break.

And got stared at by lots of people as I wandered back up the street with the (quite large) box for it clutched in my arms. But who cares, it will dispense heat and look shiny and sleek in the house. Just so long as it's not really a Dalek in disguise.

Do I look like Delia Smith?

On the weekend I ventured into the kitchen to work on creating some cullinary masterpieces. Although I do that most weekends, so that's nothing new or surprising.

Anyways... I decided to try my hand at making savoury muffins. Had some absolutely scrumptious savoury muffins on Thursday last week at a farewell thingy for some of the ladies at work, thus the inspiration. Got all the ingredients together, made them up and baked them. The house was filled with amazing scents... Mmm! But the darn things are light, fluffy and lucious! I wanted them to turn out rather solid, but lucious. Oh well. At least they taste fantastic :)

Then yesterday I made vegetable soup. Now, there's a history with me and soup. I'm great at making things like creme de asperges and pumpkin soup and whatnot. But when it comes to clear vegetable broths or soups or whatever, it's been a total disaster. Plus I absolutely abhor pre-made stock you buy because it generally just tastes like salt with a hint of musty vegetables. Making stock myself... well... Do I look like Delia Smith?

However, I put prejudices and laziness aside and decided to make it anyways, working from the vague memory of how my Mum makes it. And it worked! YAY!!!! Really tasty, so I'm happy and the fridge and freezer are stocked with vegetable soup and light, fluffy savoury muffins.

C'est moi!

Just watched the first episode of the thing on ABC about Catherine the Great. Quite interesting. How dull it must have been to have to marry someone, especially if they were as sexless as a neutered ferret.

Following that, there were ads for some chior competitions, classical music things, etc. It made me think, once more, how I'd be more than happy to move back to Adelaide again for all of the concerts my family and I used to go to, especially the Scott Theatre's productions of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.

They were so fantastic. Although I do remember being scared by a wizard character when I was little *lol*

The Cushion. And yes, it deserves the capitals.

Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St Clements ;)

The grass in the glazed pot works somehow. Definitely adds something to the front verandah :) Very glad to have bought it... Go Bunnings, you good thing!

A shell I found in the yard.

It's like it had a zebra as a parent...

Peculiar primulas. Lovely freaky little plants :)

Snowdrops - they've pushed their way through the stones in the rock garden. A bit like an iron fist in a velvet glove...

It's been strange having a camera again... But nice! Still not happy with the pix I took of the primulas. Will have to work on them again tomorrow. Really want to show off my freaky, stripy flowers!

It's so cold here at the moment, even though the fire is blazing and the fan's on it. This is the problem with cold, clear nights, obviously. And frost on the roof. I guess I won't be moving to countries that have very cold Winters. And I can definitely see why the Russians wear huge fur coats.

Wo Glaube da Liebe,
Wo Liebe da Friede,
Wo Friede da Segen,
Wo Segen da Gott,
Wo Gott, keine Nott.

Bottled feathers.

Snowdrops and stones.

Paintings...

New cushion of utter gorgeousness :)

Hurrah, almost the weekend!

This is all I can think of saying. At least right now.

Oh, other than it's my friend Tony's birthday today. Happy birthday! Woot! *throws cake around* Must remember to do something birthday-ish with him and other friends when back in SA next month... Birthdays are so nice :)

But...

YAY WEEKEND!

Happy things!

> Allens lollies appear to have split into two seperate but equally important groups, the police who... ermm, wait, wrong thing! But it seems like there's now the natural flavours and colours and the non-natural flavours and colours. HURRAH FOR ARTIFICIAL COLOURS AND FLAVOURS! I'd missed them so much... Especially Snakes Alive, which just didn't taste right naturally.

> An absolutely amazing sandwich recipe thing I found yesterday and made last night, involving 10-grain bread, feta, roast zucchini, roast tomatoes, fresh herbs, hommous and a whole lot of tastebud orgasms.

> Gin & Juice as rendered in a country and western fashion. Yes, I hate country and western music with a passion, but this song done country is absolutely hilarious!

> Pretty sunlight on the hills, trees and clouds as viewed through the office window. Peaceful and relaxing. And to think it'll be dark by the time I get home. Nuts.

There were some other things, but they've kind of slipped my mind at the moment. Sure I'll remember them sooner or later. Must be all the artificial flavours and colours going to my brain and sending it on holidays. Wheeeeeeeeee!

Pucker up!

*le gasp!*

Shock! Horror!

The social kiss!!!

The world will positively END RIGHT NOW.

*yawn*

I was reading earlier today about the "social kiss" - you know, the way some people greet each other with a peck on the cheek and how it's more often than not that women are on the receiving end of this. "The gender-specific, illogical nature of social kissing creates real confusion about what such a kiss means. It is in the context of this confusion that well-meant pecks are seen as sinister or 'inappropriate,'" says Emily Maguire, a freelance writer and author.

Strange... but there are people who don't like the social kiss. And there are some people you definitely don't want a social kiss from. But usually it's not that hard to avoid. Although I have had one caught-off-guard-social-kiss that saw my hand grabbed and energetically pulled towards the person so that I lurched towards their outstretched lips *shudder*

But it's more amusing that offensive or sinister. And if you choose to be offended by people who are showing some politeness, well, so be it. Still, I loved the suggestion Ms Maguire made in the article that if we really are so keen on the social kiss, we should go the way of the French (and those from Latin countries) and do the kiss-on-both-cheeks thing. Now that would be a greeting!

But you know what I do find offensive? The social forwarded attempted guilt-trip e-mail! Silly, funny, obscure, random and crazy forwarded e-mails are great. But I take exceptional pleasure in deleting the e-mails that say things like, "If you really love Jesus, you'll forward this to your entire address book or we'll know that not forwarding this will make Baby Jesus cry," or "If you don't send this on, the cure for cancer won't be found and the Scissor Monster will lop off little Jimmy's arms," or other such stuff.

Annoying! I think Jesus is fantastic anyways, if I want to do something about cancer, I donate money to The Cancer Council and the Scissor Monster doesn't exist. And the forwarded e-mail I got today that said that Jesus was thinking of the "7 per cent of people who would forward this e-mail" while he was dying on the cross is now residing in the trash folder.

Wouldn't it be nice...

Cadbury sees red over use of colour purple, Sydney Morning Herald, July 18.

Who would think that the colour purple would lead to an appeal being lodged against a Federal Court ruling. Yes, trade marks, intellectual property and whatnot are important, but aren't colours a little hard to manage?

I love it how on the Cadbury website, it says "...and the colour purple are Cadbury Group trade marks in Australia..."

The entire colour purple? The whole spectrum? Absolutely everything from lilac to puce?

Surely they have a shade of purple registered... What if the shade of purple someone uses is just a little different to the one registered at the Trade Marks Office? Is it a case of near enough is definitely not good enough? What happens if you're wearing a purple shirt? Will you be sued for attempting to impersonate a chocolate bar? The mind boggles...

But it makes me laugh. And chocolate and laughs combined are a good thing :)

Really freaking cold today here, with a delicious temperature of about 5 degrees at the moment. May or may not defrost later, particularly since my heater seems to be having a tantrum. Perhaps it will just be best to hide under a blanket for the duration.

Did the sensible thing and did a whole lot of gardening for about four hours out in the cold. Repotted stuff, made a new garden bed, discovered a few things (the gardens here never cease to amaze and have yielded such things as toy spanners, coins and bottles. Magic).

So at least the front area of the house is starting to look really good.

Now there's just the back yard to grapple with. Must work up an appropriate level of anger, frustration and resentment towards it though, before charging down there with pointy, sharp impliments :-p

*teehee*

I don't belong here...

This is quite possibly going to be the most bizarre blog entry (for me), but perhaps it's just because it's 11.30 at night and I'm listening to Radiohead. And I have no words for it but there's something that I can't quite work out how I need to say it that I have to get out.

How much more simple would it be to just reach in and rip out that offending feeling, slam it down on the page and disect it with cool strokes of a scalpel? That bit makes no sense, that part is obviously hurting, let's just cut that section off over there...

Girl meets boy, girl thinks boy is better than chocolate, Pink Lady apples and 150 free SMS's with every mobile balance recharge. Finally girl plucks up the courage and manages to tell boy she thinks he's the most awesome thing in ages that's come into her life. He says the same of her.

And then it's really nice. You're floating on clouds, you know?

And then you find out or are told that he's doing the underpants charleston with other people. Or wants to. And it's like...

...totally blindsided...

Ouch. Because somehow you were under the misguided assumption that when you fell for someone and they'd apparently fallen for you, it kinda meant that they weren't squeezing other melons on the market to test for ripeness or something.

Most pathetically, it hurts. Disgustingly so.

Which is all there is to it. Other than cutting the ties, distancing yourself, feeling tears prick the back of your eyes and not wanting to let them out because it'd admit too much like for this guy.

Oh, and then to admit your own stupidity, selfishness and shallowness when it comes to screwing up something that would have been even more amazing just to persue something that was as lobotomised as what you chose was. Especially when you realise that the even more amazing thing was what you wanted all along but got spooked over silly issues.

*shrugs* Told you it would be an odd post for me.

Why the world needs red shoes

Joke of the Day :D

One day, Jesus and Satan decided to settle which one of them was the best programmer. God was chosen to be the judge.

Jesus and Satan got 10 hours to create the best program they could for the PC.

When 10 hours had passed, the power suddenly went out, and all the data disappeared from both monitors. Moments later, the power came back on.

On Jesus's monitor, all the data had returned to its previous state, whereas Satan's monitor remained blank.

Satan got really angry and complained to God.

God was quiet for a moment, then he laughed and said, "Jesus saves!"

To sleep, perchance to dream... of boots...

Really odd dreams last night! And just as a disclaimer, I don't hold a lot of stock with dream interpreations/meanings/etc, but I do think that what we dream often is some part of our subconscious giving us a mental kick to try to get us to think about things in waking life.

Anyways, the dream things that stick out the most are as follows, with their apparent "meanings" from a dictionary site (see down in the list under fun stuff).

Sunburn
To dream that you have a sunburn, indicates that there is an emotional situation or problem that you can no longer avoid. There is some urgent matter that is literally burning through to your soul and demands your immediate attention. Righty... And the fact that I woke up after that dream and was like, "Ugh, blankets off!" because it was too warm has nothing to do with it... *lol*

Bicycle
To dream that you are riding a bicycle, signifies your desires to attain a balance in your life. You need to balance work and pleasure in order to succeed in your current undertakings. Makes sense.

Nature
To dream of nature, denotes freedom, tranquility, restoration, and renewal. It may represent that your internal instincts are experienced and expressed.

Road
To see a road in your dream, indicates your sense of direction and pursuit of your goals. To see a smooth road bordered by green trees and flowers, denotes a steady progress and steady climb up the social ladder.

Shopping
To dream that you are shopping, indicates your needs and desires. Consider what you are shopping for and what needs you are try to fulfill.

Boots
To see or dream that you are wearing boots, refers to the power in your movement and the boldness of your position. You are taking a firm stance (also think shoes, which means: In general, shoes represent your approach to life. It suggests that you are well-grounded or that you are down to earth. It also represents your convictions about your beliefs. If you are changing your shoes, then it refers to your changing roles. You are taking a new approach to life. If your forget your shoes, then it suggests that you are leaving restraints behind you. You are are refusing to conform to some idea or attitude).

White
White represents purity, perfection, peace, innocence, dignity, cleanliness, awareness, and new beginnings. You may be experiencing a reawakening or have a fresh outlook on life. Yay for buying new white boots, then!

Clothes
To dream of your clothes, is symbolic of your public self and how you are perceived. It is indicative of the act you put on in front of others. Clothes is also an indication of your condition and status in life... To dream that you are constantly changing your clothes, represents the need for change and your need to fit into a new situation or role. You need to establish a new self-image. Perhaps related to the white boots, who knows.

Interesting enough, I guess! Oh, and the painting is The Dreamers by Albert Joseph Moore.

...by the light of the silvery moon...

Windy Nights ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Whenever the moon and stars are set,
Whenever the wind is high,
All night long in the dark and wet,
A man goes riding by.
Late in the night when the fires are out,
Why does he gallop and gallop about?

Whenever the trees are crying aloud,
And ships are tossed at sea,
By, on the highway, low and loud,
By at the gallop goes he.
By at the gallop he goes, and then
By he comes back at the gallop again.

Donatella would be proud...

Just meandering around the Versace site today and had a look at their home collection range (it's surprisingly less tacky than most of their other stuff even though it's mind-blowingly decadent and often involves a lot of gold). I can really see it in my home, especially this bed and the chairs! Love them, adore them, want them NOW.

The purple would be a nice decor change from the rest of the house in terms of colour and style (and while I think about that, it's time to note that down and to remember to buy a purple quilt cover...). And the Versace home collection makes me think of shopping at a Versace store in Sydney a few years ago, which was a fantastic shopping experience.

Although it's a little stunning to see a teacup and saucer set on sale for $350 when they're not even antiques ;) Still, shiny things, are quite nice.

Okay... Celebrities who are approximately a size 0 really annoy me sometimes with their "Oh no, I'm so thin because I don't exercise at all - just laze around totally! - and eat lots of food plus alllllllllll of that naughty naughty junkfood and no, it's not an eating disorder! My bones just naturally poke though my skin!"

So it was kind of cool of Keira Knightley to talk about how anorexia has been something that's been in her family so honestly. And I guess people are now thinking that she might have it or whatever, courtesy of the Pirates launch in England where she did look a bit like she'd float away on a mild zephyr. Who knows... She looks more gaunt than in the movie, where she looks fantastic. Still, most people would probably snap their granny's arms off to have a figure like that.

And you can definitely tell in the photo that she does those three zillion sit-ups per day! And sit-ups are way more challenging than you'd think when you're getting back into them after years of not doing them... Ouch! Did a whole lot on Thursday night as part of the "I WILL eat healthily and exercise" thing that I'm attempting at the moment. Felt it the next day. And Saturday. But it was a good "ouch."

And, would you believe, after years and years of not having breakfast, I had breakfast this morning! Yes, I did! I had my Weet-Bix with milk and honey. And it was surprisingly tollerable. Food that early in the morning perhaps isn't so big an enemy. Just a chore... ;)

Plus the CSIRO says that apparently it's good to be thinner. Although maybe don't go the way of the stick with their well-being diet unless you're really into meat. And being a vegetarian, that makes it a bit of a challenge.

I love weekends!

This past weekend was excellent, too, beyond just being normally excellent by the token of being a weekend. Friday was relaxing, Saturday was good and involved watching Johnny Depp of an evening doing his thing in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and then visitors arrived Sunday afternoon.

Fantastic! :D Cue hours on end of laughing, catching up, eating good food, having brilliant fun. I absolutely love having people stay over. Should do it more often. All my friends know they're welcome whenever they're over/down/up/around this way :) Altho that then involves them getting time off uni or work or whatever to visit *lol* Why has life gotten so busy? Is it the adult thing? I dunno... *lol*

Anyways... gotta have an early night tonight. Trying to ward off a rather gross 'flu I feel approaching and do not want to have it! It must be banished! *waves cloves of garlic at it* Speaking of garlic, I made hommous for the first time ever myself yesterday afternoon (with thanks to Mum's recipe). Jules loves hommous so it was something that just had to be made... And it was good.

*Hearts* for John Galliano

They're amazingly odd, but still beautiful. Long live haute couture!

The first makes me think of Frida Kahlo, who was born on this day in 1907. The third is very Alice in Wonderland to my mind - something with the croquet match at the end and the Queen of Hearts and painting roses red. Still unsure about the second... Perhaps something celestial, something Greek mythology.

Turnips!

I HATE TURNIPS!

Although they are, admittedly, really beautiful. But eating them, no. Bad. I just found a recipe involving them on some website and it brought back all the memories of turnip fights in Year 8 Agriculture.

Those were the days :D *lol*

And our Ag teacher at the time was so awesome - Mrs Murray. Hilarious, always telling the guys off, letting my friends and I get away with loads of mischief, making us all laugh. And not telling us off for starting the turnip thing by accidentally lobbing a turnip near a guy in our class.

Hurrah for cherry ripes, too.

I hadn't looked at www.crikey.com.au for a while, so thought I might have a lookie at it this morning.

The best thing on it was a list of wealthy Aussie philanthropists - how cool is that :) I think if I ever had loads of money, I'd want to give lots of it away to help people, and it's good to see that lots of Australia's rich people do.

People Ain't No Good
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

People just ain't no good
I think that's welll understood
You can see it everywhere you look
People just ain't no good

We were married under cherry trees
Under blossom we made our vows
All the blossoms come sailing down
Through the streets and through the playgrounds

The sun would stream on the sheets
Awoken by the morning bird
We'd buy the Sunday newspapers
And never read a single word

People they ain't no good
People they ain't no good
People they ain't no good

Seasons came, Seasons went
The winter stripped the blossoms bare
A different tree now lines the streets
Shaking its fists in the air
The winter slammed us like a fist
The windows rattling in the gales
To which she drew the curtains
Made out of her wedding veils

People they ain't no good
People they ain't no good
People they ain't no good at all

To our love send a dozen white lilies
To our love send a coffin of wood
To our love let aal the pink-eyed pigeons coo
That people they just ain't no good
To our love send back all the letters
To our love a valentine of blood
To our love let all the jilted lovers cry
That people they just ain't no good

It ain't that in their hearts they're bad
They can comfort you, some even try
They nurse you when you're ill of health
They bury you when you go and die
It ain't that in their hearts they're bad
They'd stick by you if they could
But that's just bullsh!t
People just ain't no good

People they ain't no good
People they ain't no good
People they ain't no good
People they ain't no good at all

Found this on a CD this evening, remembered how much I love Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds... Definitely don't think I could live without music. Life would be too boring.

This photo I took last year always reminds me of a photo I'd taken years ago when everyone was much younger. My Nanna and Pappa used to keep framed on their mantlepiece.

This month, it'll be a year since Nanna died. In May, it was six years since my Pappa died. Time goes so quickly and in a macabre way, every day is a day closer to our own deaths. How cheerful *lol*

*sobs*

Why, Germany, why!??!?!?!

You could have beaten Italy for us and given us the hope that dramatic over-acting would only be found on soap operas, rather than in the World Cup final.

Ridiculous way to start the day, a loss like that.

And if France doesn't beat Portugal* (well, they have before!), there'll be no team I even remotely like in the World Cup final. But I guess it means that I don't have to get up at strange hours to watch it. I guess a positive can come from things like this! ;)

*Thanks Ben! My brain definitely wasn't switched on at that hour... Why must mornings start so early in the day?

...the suburban high school conversation...

I *heart* Lefty Tim.

This is why!

Also, when the heck will people stop posturing on how Camilla should or shouldn't feel?

I'm sorry, but she's said she didn't feel particularly offended, saw it as a joke and doesn't feel like a victim. I think we need to listen more to how people feel when it comes to cases like this instead of telling them what to feel, and on the flip-side, we shouldn't be telling those who feel like victims how they should feel either.

And other than that, how amazingly badly did Big Brother handle the whole thing? I think their poor management and obvious lack of transparency in the matter has led to it being a total beat-up. Unless, of course, they figure that poor management and a lack of information equals a great way to get publicity for the show.

In which case, I think we could quote Pete from BBUK in saying, "Goodnight... W*^$%#&S!!!"

Or maybe something from Democrats leader, senator Andrew Bartlett is more appropriate, which follows on from calls by the PM to get rid of the "stupid" show: "The original Big Brother was a politician in a book by George Orwell who used political power to control every aspect of peoples lives, from what they said, did and watched, right down to their private thoughts."