Read-a-thon 2012, Coca-Cola & Cars

Finally finished writing up last year’s reading list. They weren’t all long, & they weren’t all good, but I finished 232 books last year. For Christmas The Gameboyfriend bought me a Kindle, which I adore & have used every single day since then. I’ve also discovered reddit, so much less reading of books, & the shoulder on which I carry my handbag is very thankful for this.

 

I also completed my 2012 Resolution of only drinking coke from cans.

  • 375mL cans v. 600mL bottles made it easier to drink less – I could have one with lunch or tea & that was it.
  • more expensive – $3 for a can of coke? Fuck it, I’ll fill up my water bottle.
  • $18 for a case of coke cans? Fuck it, I’ll drink beer (which I can make very cheaply in my laundry).
  • The Gameboyfriend: Do you want a drink? Me: No, I’ll just have a sip of yours. The Gameboyfriend: I’m having coke. Me: Shit. I’ll have water.
  • Can coke is best coke. When I do get to have a coke, it’s the best kind. Makes the treat even greater.

That first post-mix coca cola from Maccas in 2013 tasted amazing, though.

No resolutions for 2013 other than to stop being a pest. I still make The Gameboyfriend come in to turn off the light for me, even when it’s the lamp on my bedside table, because I’m comfy & tucked in, & don’t want to roll over.

 

For Australia Day this year I bought my first car!

 

Yoda the Toyota

 

It’s a 95 Toyota Camry, with less ks on it than The Gameboyfriend’s car that he bought brand new in 2006. My car is old enough to have it’s green Ps, & I’m still on my Ls.

 

Yoda the Toyota Sideview

 

& that was my very first ever attempt at parking. The Gameboyfriend has been immensely patient.

 

Reverse parking!

 

Six weeks later though I am much better at parking – this was my first successful attempt at reversing into a spot. Go me!

Cokes shared today: Got one bottle with my Subway Seafood Sensations sub. Was delicious.

Some cars are blue, therefore all cars are blue.

This is one of the most frustratingly stupid internet arguments I’ve ever got into. Aside from last year, when Martin Hartley made it painfully clear he is homo- & trans-phobic. Nevermind, found that argument too, & it’s down below this one.

 

 

From the Sydney Morning Herald:British actor Rupert Everett has stunned the gay community by telling a UK newspaper that he “can’t think of anything worse” than having two gay parents.”She [Rupert Everett's mother] thinks children need

a father and a mother and I agree with her… I can’t think of anything worse than being brought up by two gay dads.”Everett was once a trailblazer for gay actors after he came out as a homosexual 20 years ago. He went on to star in Shakespeare in Love, My Best Friend’s Wedding and The Next Best Thing.http://m.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/everetts-antigay-parent-comment-outrages-20120917-26238.html

Everett isn’t being “Anti-Gay” insofar as he is making a statement where he believes that having a Mother and a Father is still a better family situation than a homosexual couple. He believes that a homosexual lifestyle choice is okay but he believes that it is not the ideal family situation.

Everett’s anti-gay parent comment outrages
m.smh.com.au
Everett’s anti-gay parent comment outrages
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  • 6 people like this.
  • Ed Summerhays Article should be titled “star doesnt share same narrow minded view as the rest of hollywood”. Its nonsense that an article needs to be written every time someone doesnt support gay marriage. Surely by now theyve figured out not every single person militantly supports gay marriage.
  • Ed Summerhays ”there is absolutely no evidence to show that gay parents effects the way a child js brought up”

    Thats like saying “there’s absolutely no evidence that there is anyone in that building, so therefore we’re safe to go ahead and detonate”
  • Laura Kelly There’s a difference between gay marriage & gay parenting. Marriage doesn’t mean children.
  • Ed Summerhays Please explain? How are marriage and children not related? Do we not owe our children the assurance mum and dad are husband and wife not just 2 ‘friends’?

    marriage has always been the cornerstone of family.

    The only reason that argument could be put forward, is because of the promotion of family out of wedlock, and that tol is not good for our children.
  • Laura Kelly They are often interlinked; they are not one & the same thing. It is possible have children without marriage, & possible to have marriage without children. Supporting gay marriage is not supporting gay parenting.

    You can put forward arguments for what marriage used to be, but it is no longer the case that marriage is just for having children, or there would be an age-ban on post-menopausal women being allowed to marry.
  • Ed Summerhays Because you CAN have children out of wedlock doesnt mea we should. The world will become.an ugly place if we do everything we ‘can’. Just because we can do things it doesn’t mean they should be done. 
    And your menopause question is answered quite well here:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMYBl2uzXEw

    Alan keyes sets people strait on the issue of gay marriage in a debate with Barack Obama.
  • Laura Kelly Can you please tell me at which point my menopause question is ‘answered well’? He seems to be saying that if there is no possibility of children, there is no marriage. This is not true.
  • Ed Summerhays The modorator mentions the instance of infertility. When a woman has menopause, she cannot conceive. The point is, the combination of two men or women has never, and will never con…See More
  • Laura Kelly ’Principle’ is not fact. The fact is that marriage does not equal children, either by choice or biology. You can say that you want to it be, & that you believe it is, but that does not make it so. The legal definition of marriage does not include the ‘principle’ of children.
  • Martin Christopher Hartley Laura – In the lead up to same-sex marriage, there was a huge push to have adoption by same-sex couples legalised even though the average number of adoptions in NSW has been less than 30 for a number of years. It seems that the same-sex marriage lobby groups have had all the trappings of “traditional marriage” in their sights.

    Even though one can be married and not have children and one can also have children outside of marriage, does not mean that the two are separate issues. Marriages are recognised under law on the presumption that it forms a family and would normally have children. It is an institution which is legally recognised and regulated for the purposes of inheritance and to regulate society.

    In fact, marriage had always been a religious institution recognised by law, not a legal institution in of itself. This is why until very recent times, the law required some sort of religious minister to contract the marriage before witnesses.

    But to get back to the original topic – marriage has always been presumed to be the condition for raising a family (ie children) and as such is inextricably linked to parenting. Marriage is not just for raising children, but neither is it merely an emotional relationship to be recognised by law. De-Facto relationships are not “marriages” as such, but are treated as though they were marriages for the purposes of inheritance and other similar social-legal matters.
    23 hours ago · Like · 2
  • Laura Kelly ”Marriages are recognised under law on the presumption that it forms a family” The presumption that a family consists of a husband, wife & their (biological) children is no longerrelevant. Although lots of marriages result in children, the present concept of marriage is a legal contract between two people who wish to be linked as spouses for life.

    The law has evolved to recognise marriage as a legal institution, not a religious one. Now the concept of marriage has evolved also. The reasons couples get married are specific to each couple, & can be due to love &/or family, inheriting money, children, gaining citizenship etc. All marriages are not the same, & cannot be bound by any further terms that ‘these people wish to be legally united’.

    Your idea of marriage may be about becoming a family to raise children. My marriage will not be. Therefore, marriage cannot unequivocally be said to be about children.
  • Ed Summerhays So are you saying, if gay-marriage is legalised, rights to adoption children will not go hand in hand?
    22 hours ago · Like · 1
  • Laura Kelly I’ve never made any assertion as to adoption rights whatsoever, so no. I’m not saying that at all. (EDIT: of course I want gay couples to have the same right as heterosexual couples to adopt, but that’s not the argument I was making, & dislike him putting those words in my mouth)
  • Carling Hendy Laura – I totally agree, I couldn’t have said it better myself
  • Adam Waugh well it is just a fact of nature really
  • Martin Christopher Hartley Laura – what is “marriage” for in today’s society other than some sort of public statement of an emotional relationship between two persons? Why are not a boyfriend and girlfriend then automatically married and when they break-up why is this not a divorce?

    “Your idea of marriage may be about becoming a family to raise children. My marriage will not be. Therefore, marriage cannot unequivocally be said to be about children.”

    You are basically telling me that you have no intention to have children and therefore marriage as a whole is not about having children. Sounds rather like you are imposing your own ideas as an individual on what is a societal institution. It seems that “marriage” is now merely a relationship status slightly above that of announcing to everyone that you have a boyfriend/girlfriend and that you want society to recognise this relationship.

    By its very nature, law must discriminate. This is why we have “marriages” and even “de facto” relationships. Laws must discriminate as to the age that one can legally marry, vote, drink alcohol, drive a motor vehicle, etc.

    Laws will have to eventually discriminate and recognise that what is being touted as “marriage” in fact is not, and perhaps needs to be called something else.
  • Laura Kelly I am not imposing my ideas of marriage onto anyone else – my point is exactly what you have just stated: marriage IS only public statement of an emotional relationship between twopersons, for the purpose of society to recognise the relationship. Any other issues are between the married couple & no one else.

    Other issues within a marriage may come into play such as children, but children are not a necessary factor in being married. Therefore, marriage as a whole is not about children, because not every married couple has children. All marriages are formalised relationships between two consenting adults, & that is the only common factor. I am not disagreeing that marriage & children are related, & I am not imposing my views on other people by saying they must or must not have children. I am saying that they are not the same thing.

    I have no intention of having children. I do wish to get married to my boyfriend in the future. As marriage is a legal relationship contract, I am free to be married & childfree. Although you may not recognise this concept of a family without children as a marriage, it is a marriage.

    A relationship between a boyfriend & girlfriend is not automatically a marriage because they have not made that legal contract. Similarly, two people who have a baby are not automatically married because again, the legal contract is not there.
  • Ed Summerhays But what is the point of this legal contract, if there is no difference between a married couple and an un married couple. you keep saying the only difference is it is recognise by law, but whats the point if there is no difference?

    Our point is there IS a difference, yours is there isnt. So what youre arguing for seems to the elimination of marriage all together. Laws are implaced for reasons, not just for the sake of it.
  • Laura Kelly Some couples want to formalise their relationship. I like the idea of a formal legal commitment between my partner & I, & am absolutely in favour of marriage. Still doesn’t mean I want to have kids.

    I’m saying that it is up to the couple to decide what their marriage is about. You are saying marriage has to be about children. If you want to be married & have children, please do go ahead. I am not taking that right away from you.

Phobias ahoy! I do sincerely apologise if anyone is offended by anything I say with regards to GLBTQI issues, & I am open to learning more.

Last time I studied biology we had male and female… now apparently we have 23 genders and counting… when did our bodies start to morph into all sorts of weird things?
MercatorNet: news and articles
www.mercatornet.com
Few countries can be taking gender inclusiveness more seriously than Australia.
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  • 2 people like this.
  • Laura Kelly Thousands of years ago. However, only now has society progressed enough to being to accept transpeople.
  • Laura Kelly Any sentence beginning with ‘I’m sorry’ is guaranteed to be offensive & misinformed. Intersexuality is not something that should be ignored or insulted, & implying that any human being is ‘mutated’ is not only extremely offensive, but very ignorant. Do you not believe in evolution? Enjoy that cis-privilege.
  • Laura Kelly & was there a particular reason you needed to clarify your definition of ‘man’ as heterosexual?
  • Martin Christopher Hartley Just to ensure that there was no confusion for those who hold all 23 categories to be extant.
  • Martin Christopher Hartley Oh, and what causes you to believe that a diversification of gender identity is somehow linked to evolution. If it is a matter of evolution, then it is genetic, and as far as modern sciencehas ascertained there are still only two genetically determined genders. Therefore anything beyond that is not a matter of evolution, but a matter for psychology.
  • Cate Warwyck ok I feel so dumb, all of that went right over my head. But I will read the article, 23 genders, sounds interesting. I know of at least 4-6.
  • Cate Warwyck Ok I skimmed the article and I do not know anything about the new 21 genders. I think most can be put into just 6 categories: Hetero male, hetero female, homo male (with subdivisions), homo female (with subdivisions), intersex/hemaphrodite, ‘in the process of change (subdivided into male and female and then subdivided further by state of change)’. Does that make any sense?
  • Laura Kelly Gender identity is not physical. Genitalia & chromosomes are not gender. Gender is not something you can determine for anyone but yourself. Expecting someone else to conform to pre-determined gender roles is not okay.

    Science recognises intersex humans as different from male & female. XX & XY are not the only genotypes, & for you to pretend they are is foolish. Again, genotype is not gender. You are getting two different things mixed up.

    Sexuality is also completely unrelated, so explaining yourself as hetersoxual as well as a cis-male is totally irrelevant to the discussion.
  • Cate Warwyck I guess if it were a chart similar to how species are graphed in biology? phylum, order etc? I barely remember how to do that from biology and I wish I could remember, I found biology to be my favourite subject.
  • Laura Kelly Sexuality (preference for with whom you have sex) is COMPLETELY UNRELATED to biological sex & gender. You cannot classify cis-male, heterosexual as different to cis-male, homosexual. That is non-sensical. It’s akin to classing people in categories like blonde, cis-female v. brunette, cis-female.
  • Cate Warwyck wow this is way over my head. I’m thinking you are saying there is a difference between gender and sexuality? gender is determined by chromosomes and changes for those in the process of sex change despite chromosomes, and all the rest is sexuality and not gender? I think you need to dumb it down for me, but I guess Marty understands what you are saying. I feel so stupid I just don’t understand.
  • Laura Kelly There is indeed a difference between gender & sexuality. Gender is NOT determined by chromosomes. That is biological sex.

    Gender is how a person chooses to determine themselves. It is not physical, & most people are comfortable with two very narrow classifications of ‘male’ & ‘female’.
  • Laura Kelly Biological sex is chromosomes (& therefore, genitalia) & has a broad range including XX (cis-female), XY (cis-male) as well as all of thesehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersex#Intersex_conditions_and_scope.

    Sexuality is you have sex with. It is unrelated to one’s biological sex & gender.
  • Cate Warwyck ah I see. Well I guess where it is necessary like in hospital, they just need to ask more questions to give a person the right choices ie who they share a room with.
  • Laura Kelly Classifying ‘hetero-male’ as a gender is… not even close to anything resembling reality. It’s like saying ‘man-who-drives-a-van’ is a different gender to ‘man-who-owns-a-pool’.

    It’s not necessary to segregate people like that. That is the social construct of narrow-minded gender at work. I don’t see trans-gender wards in hospitals.
  • Cate Warwyck I’m just trying to understand, that’s all. So I guess I misunderstood completely. Our society is accepting so many types of sexualities but in most areas they can only determine just male and female, such as hospitals and prisons. I don’t work in sociology so I can’t comment further.
  • Laura Kelly That’s a pretty fair assessment. I’m sorry if I was aggressive but I get so angry at people being so close-minded about this. Martin was clearly laughing off the possibility by saying “I’ve was taught there was male & female, so nothing else exists!”, & that is not how to move society forward. We need to accept & embrace everyone.
  • Martin Christopher Hartley Laura – do we need to accept and embrace paedophilia and bestiality too? Where do you intend to draw the line?
  • Martin Christopher Hartley Laura – my point of the biology of the matter is to demonstrate that physically speaking there is only the masculine and feminine. Any other matter of sexuality is a matter of choice. Anyone can chose to have a hetero or homo-sexual relationship, or to wear clothing normally associated with one gender or another, but one cannot chose to not be male or female, as the simple fact is that is your genetic make-up.

    I understand that there are various problems with gender identity. Such as a male pseudo hermaphriditism, where a person is born generticall male, but has a body which produces no testosterone and they grow up appearing female. Often this doesn’t become a problem until later teen years when the regular female menstruation fails to commence.

    I accept the fact that people will chose a sexual orientation (whether or not I agree with their individual choices is another matter entirely), however, I cannot accept that there are now 23 “genders”.
  • Laura Kelly ”physically speaking there is only the masculine and feminine”. I see you skipped the link tohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersex#Intersex_conditions_and_scope. That is completely untrue.

    One chooses with whom one has a relationship, yes. One does not choose SEXUALITY, ie, to which biological sex one is attracted. Sexuality has , I repeat, NOTHING TO DO WITH GENDER.

    You keep associating gender with biological sex as well. They are not the same. Gender is something you define for yourself. Most people are happy with ‘male’ & ‘female’. Others are not, & again, it is not for you to determine this for other people. You can call yourself a man. You cannot say that I have to call myself a woman, & deny me other options. You also cannot deny me the right to call myself neutroix, intersex, or refuse to specify my gender at all.
  • Laura Kelly Also, as I’ve pointed out about six times now, SEXUALITY IS NOT GENDER OR BIOLOGICAL SEX. Bringing in an argument on “where do we draw the line re: paedophilia & beastiality” when talking about gender is disgusting. It shows you have not grasped the difference between sexuality & gender yet when you try & link gender identity* to paedophilia.**

    Paedophilia & beastiality are valid forms of sexuality. We accept that they exist. We do not accept them in the sense that we view them positively. In accepting that they exist, we are able to help pedophiles from acting on their impulses. Denying the existence of something will not help.

    * your right to call yourself male, my right to call myself whatever I want; 
    versus;
    ** the sexual attraction of adults to children
  • Laura Kelly I think the problem here is that you think having a penis & XY genotype makes you male. It makes you biologically cis-male, but your gender could be anything. It does not have to ‘match’ your biological sex. The recognised existence of trans-people proves this. Again, denying them their right to their own gender identity (even if this means having twenty-three different genders) is not your call.
  • Michael Pasteur it is a reality that is hard to grasp. But hold that thought it is also a relatively new topic and much more research needs to be done before we change society as a whole to accomodate 20 or however many genders there is. Not to say that you implied we should be in a rush to do either. I’m just saying :)
  • Michael Pasteur p.s your referring to exclusively western society and those who think/do likewise. In some areas of culture it is accepted and accomodated in certain ways.
  • Michael Pasteur oh yeah im not done lol the huge challenge to the church on this is whether or not they accept in an accomodating way that literally changes doctrines, or they stick to the even though you were born disabled in such way it does still not make the sin right. The Line is blury.
  • James McInerney Martin, if you think sexual orientation is a matter of conscious choice, you have a *lot* to learn…
  • Elle Raginwulf There’s a scientific explanation for the lot of it, but I wont go into it.
  • Michael Pasteur A very limited explanation in terms of why who what and what to do about it though elise.
  • Elle Raginwulf does anything need to be done? it has become a social norm these days.
  • Robert Bautista I refrain from diving into this pit-brawl, except to point out that we should never suppress that which is true simply because someone claims to be offended. The normative natural sexes are male and female, these “transpeople” are no more nor less than an example of genetic disorder.
  • Elle Raginwulf I’ll chat with u on this subject some time in a non-public setting Bautista :p
  • Michael Pasteur man i dislike it when people link confrontational debate with fighting. I’m not about to insult or undermine anyone. I just like to discuss and debate. So if anyone is thinking otherwise get that out of your filthy little mind
  • Michael Pasteur and i hardly think its social norm, unless you are talking about sexual orientation, gay and lesbian is all over t.v and that is todays standard of social norm your either educated by t.v or someone who was educated by t.v. As for transgenders and other chemical mutations in terms of gender there is not nearly enough information out to say its social norm elise.
  • Elle Raginwulf in some subcultures these days is it encouraged and a same-sex experience is considered a right of passage. gays and lesbians do not face anywhere near the amount or level of scrutiny as they used to, in fact the media celebrates it with such shows as Queer as folk, Queer eye for the straight guy etc heck, home and away even had a lesbian couple on it. So it is everywhere in sight from a young age. I agree that children should not be raised by a TV set, but the sad reality is many are. It’s also spoken about on the radio Nathan from 92.9fm in perth is openly gay. the fact that we celebrate gays these days rather than censor it proves that it has become normalised in western society today. In terms of transexuals, drag is a big part of gay society, and with all this exposure to homosexuallity in the media, that too has become accepted, given a place and time. What people don’t consider ok is being deceived
  • Elle Raginwulf so if a transgender person were to “hit on” a straight person without being open about their sexuality it would not go down well
  • Elle Raginwulf also, with greater exposure to medical shows these days, and documentaries people in general are much more aware and understanding of genetic deformites such as hemaphroditism. we are also aware that hormone imbalances can lead to gynaecomastia. we are more aware of people who believe themselves to be of the opposite sex and recieving hormone treatment or having surgery to reinforce that belief. not long back there was a very sucessful transgender model featured on i believe 60minutes or a like program. then who could forget the “pregnant man” who was simply a woman who’d undergone some hormone therapy. While it may not be part of all of our lives on a daily basis, we are much more aware of it than ever before as a society, and are questioning it less and less. this makes it a social norm.
  • Elle Raginwulf now, i refuse to go into weather i think it is a good thing or a bad thing, because that just leads to insults and accusations. opinions are best left at the door in debates. I am an educated person through tertiary study, and through my own research. i am critical of what i watch on tv and was not in anyway “educated by it”. if i see an interesting point raised i will research it to the length of my resources. all i am saying is that in general, people are more aware and accepting of gay/lesbian/transgender than ever, and the most universal examples of how this can be proven is by the lack of censorship in the media regarding the matter. Brokeback Mountain was banned in some states in America. But not here. Is certainly wouldn’t have played somewhere like Iran, when Mahmud Ahmadinejad,Iranian president,said,”we do not have homosexuals in Iran like you do in your country.” referring of course to america. I’ll stop because I could go on for hours.
  • Robert Bautista Elise I see what you mean, but I think the conclusion is incorrect. Consider the magnitude of this change (from absolute taboo to relentlessly enforced approval) and the astounding speed (a single generation, three at most). I am convinced that this is not a genuine social change (let alone an advancement or improvement) but a systematic project to force an artificial change. People aren’t simply deciding that the entire human race, for the entirety of human history, were utterly wrong about such fundamentally human matters – rather they are being taught that this is the only acceptable position, and any other is “offensive”, “bigoted”, “ignorant”, etc.
    25 March 2011 at 01:25 via  · Like · 1
  • Elle Raginwulf Yes, you are right, it has become a debate over political correctness not science. In some cases there is a scientific solution but we have to tread so lightly around it so as not to cause disturbance that nothing is done. And by this I am referring to things like being born with both parts, or abnormal changes as a result of diet/environmental factors. One thing that would help avoid some of this would be genetic counselling for all couples prior to conception.. Unfortunately this is currently only available to couples with known risks, or older couples wishing to conceived via IVF.
  • Michael Pasteur many of the things you think you came up individually were in fact taken from t.v or from someone educated by t.v i don’t just mean on the surface. I mean the deep philosophies that are behind the story and meanings shown. Even individuallity and critical thinking itself. Yes there have been some news items popping up of rare cases here or there. Drag queens is looking at cross dressing not so much transgender. Gay and lesbian like i said has become normalised. Transgender is not even close. You do not see transgenders in normal roles you see them as freak rare occurances which is far from normalised. The hormonal pregnant man was a joke to people and was not looked at in any indepth way. And for the matter i am more interested in work done to look at the psychological disfunction rather than the argument the body does not match the mind. There is less research done on this and it seems even more crucial given stories of people changing their bodies and then realising crap i’ve done the wrong thing. I agree robert is very pc and forced.
  • Michael Pasteur well i wont even begin to start with typo’s im currently doing an essay so im a bit brain dead and lazy gb
  • Elle Raginwulf for starters I do not consider those examples to be independent research. I already explained that I was using those examples which are mainly from TV because they are the most widely recognised. I also agree that there needs to be more research done into that. for example one boy who wanted to be a girl who was recently showcased on the news had 4 older sisters. of course he’s going to have more feminine influences and aspire to be like his sisters. don’t we all look up to our older siblings? and his mum probably never wanted a boy which is why she encourages it. so yeh, some cases are very blatently emotional disturbances
  • Michael Pasteur never said you did. But anyways my point is that transgender’s are still seen as a rare phenomenon that is not really looked at beyond the surface. i.e. the transgender golfer, pregnant man/lady case. They get some sort of awareness out but no real understanding. To your second point exactly. And much can be said also in terms of homosexuals and how we in part manufacture them from feminine boys into flamboyant gay sexuals. In some of cases [not all] from my own observations the boys/girls have poor excuse for parents or family members, and struggle to fit in with more manly boys/feminine girls. In a sense they get called gay their whole school life and only find friendship with women who encourgae their girlishness, and others like them and vice versa. Somehow bullies and culture tell them that the two go hand in hand that feminine boys are gay. Media rather than countering this idea consistantly reinforce it. That grinds my gears. you don’t know me elise but you know martin and now you know i like to rant :) gb
    Cokes shared: 1 enjoyed with leftover pizza, for lunch

The Halfway Mark!

100 books read today woo! Note, books on the list twice have been read twice – which totally counts.

The Gameboyfriend set the loungeroom carpet on fire this evening – he overstuffed the firebox & left the glass door open so the room would heat up quicker. Then some wood rolled out, & now it smells like burnt carpet.Winter Solstice beautiful sky.

 

The Winter Solstice sky last night was beautiful, this was the nicest photo I managed to take – though I do like how it appears the Sys Admin behind me is working in mid-air.

My family make beautiful art.

I don’t know if this was my Dad or my sister (they’re equal candidates for writing rude words on the bricks in the backyard, in the butter, with the little coloured tiles in my Connect-4 set) but it’s a lovely sentiment.

Number of cokes shared: 1 – The Gameboyfriend brought me a coke while I watched Love, Actually, though he did try to stuff it into my cleavage, which isn’t very nice because it’s fucking freezing.

Anzac Day Public Holiday

Today is Anzac Day; I commemorated our fallen soldiers by staying in bed with The Gameboyfriend until 11am, & then eating vegemite & cheese on toast after he demonstrated why he really deserved breakfast in bed. The jar of vegemite we’re using at the moment is one of our Australia vegemite jars.

If wars weren’t fought for the freedom to be safe at home & lazy, then I don’t know what for.

I’m spending this nice day off doing my henna again (it’s been over six weeks, quelle horreur!), doing another wardrobe clean-out (shoes as well, this time) & washing my clothes. It’s very chilly, so The Gameboyfriend has lit the fireplace, & my clean clothes are now steaming in front of it.

I don't know how this stuff got through the first cull

I found a pair of Pyjama Jeans at Anglicare (a charity second-hand shop) for $7.50. That’s more than I would normally pay for pants at an op-shop, but they really do feel like wearing track pants while looking like jeans. The Gameboyfriend said “So like jeggings?” (aw bless, the man knows what jeggings are) but they’re boot-cut, so not quite. I enjoy slobbing around the house in comfortable clothes, but I like to feel stylish while doing so. I normally end up wearing tights around the house under nice but comfortable jumper-dresses, & ripping holes in them on the edges of things (this is why I threw out The Gameboyfriend’s coffee table while he was at work one day. That & it was rubbish). Or I refuse to wear pants at all, & The Gameboyfriend & Auntie Vera go O_O

I do however now have room to actually store all of my shoes. This is the majority of them. Ages ago, Mum had shelving built around all the walls of her study (which she immediately filled with books & spilled over into my old bedroom), so she gave me her old bookcases. The Gameboyfriend suggested I have a shoe-case. & so it was done.  I do indeed have three identical pairs of Sportsgirl boots standing next to each other. Two are even the same colour, although they’ve faded to slightly different shades. They are the best boots ever, & I try to pinch them on eBay whenever a new pair is listed. I’m bidding on a grey pair right now :D This is a practical investment, because they are incredibly comfortable, watertight, good quality, & they go with everything.

The majority of my shoes

I need to find some blu-tac. I have some cards a woman from work gave me that I want to stick up on the wall above my computer desk, oh nevermind, I found some. It was in a kitchen drawer, who ever would have thought of putting household items there?! Anyone who gives me cards that say “FUCKING FANTASTIC” & “KEEP CALM AND PASH AND DASH” is a genius though. Obvs.

Postcard mural

I won a case of wine in a game of heads or tails at Marrickville Golf Club trivia the other week! I was so excite, bringing that home on the train was about as much fun as you can imagine though, I’m surprised all twelve bottles made it home in one piece. Although there’s only ten bottles now. The Gameboyfriend also surprised me with a case of Jolt Vanilla Creaming Soda. It is so delicious; it tastes so mellow & vanilla-y, the way you imagine vanilla essence tastes before you actually try it.

Bob the missing unicorn

I googled the phone number on this missing pet poster – it turns out that’s the new Pizza Hut phone number now that they’re no longer 9481 1111. I posted on the Pizza Hut Facebook wall asking why they’ve taken the missing unicorn hotline number, & a Pizza Hut staff member kindly informed me that they work out of the same call centre. Well done.

(15:21) DUDE: fuck i hate customers like this
(15:21) DUDE: make me sit on the phone
(15:21) DUDE: on loud speaker
(15:21) DUDE: while they fumble around
(15:21) DUDE: babby’s first online payment
(15:21) DUDE: fuck off

Cokes shared with Laura today: 1, with myself, but The Gameboyfriend offered me a chocolate.

The movie will go on.

Today is 100 years since the Titanic left Southampton on it’s maiden voyage. I loved the shit out of the legend of the Titanic when I was little. I had all the books & watched all the documentaries, & my mum & I went to see the film when it came out. I cried; I was nine years old & had to wee so bad after four hours of sitting in the cinema, plus it was a fucking tragedy. Mum buys me Titanic memorabilia whenever she goes to Ireland, where the ship was built.

“How can you enjoy it when everyone dies?” I thought it was so sad & romantic & terrible & beautiful. I don’t know what else to say about it, but I was so into Titanic when I was little I can’t let a century of the voyage go by without saying something.

* * *Sad should be followed by happy.

A lovely lady from work surprised me with this stamp – so appropriate. She also got me a mug, post-it notes from the sexy desk of myself & greeting cards with adorable things on them. I was like ‘whoah I love you’.

This blimp was a lot more bizarre when it was floating directly past my fifth-storey window only a few metres away. I showed Auntie Vera & he was like, “what blimp? I see a white van, but…” Then I spent the rest of the afternoon looking up air ships on wikipedia. I said the word dirigible later in conversation & got weird looks.

Today no one has shared a coke with me, but Auntie Vera did buy me a bottle of pink V, & The Gameboyfriend bought me pizza for dinner (I have a cheese-burst crust from Dominos with alfredo sauce, mozzarella, bacon, feta, garlic olive oil, spinach & a tomato sauce lattice). I also have such great hair, I’ve taken like fifteen selfies to capture the magic of freshly washed hair with a little body & wave from being clipped up at work all day. I took my hair clip out in the lift & did the ‘smouldering temptress’ headshake in front of the mirror when we left work today, Auntie Vera just shook his head & told me I was so vain. I said I bet I think this lift is about me & he wouldn’t speak to me after that until we got the train station.

The Forgotten Blog – One Month On

It’s been a month since my first excited weekend when I decided I would BLOG E’ERY DAY, & a month since I last henna’d my hair. I’m getting roots (there’s a definite 8-9mm of brown & white hair close to my scalp), & I’m not even going to deny that I am Very Lazy. I kept meaning to tell everyone the wonderful things about my day, except.

Sadly, the kittens are no longer with us. The Gameboyfriend loaded them all in the car in a washing basket & took them to the Yagoona RSPCA, to be chipped & desexed, & adopted & loved. We raised them to be friendly, so they should make good pets. That was a few weeks ago & now I can hardly remember what it was like to have them, although The Gameboyfriend & Auntie Vera haven’t yet let me forget that I did try to eat one of them.

Now if only we could get rid of the fleas they infested the lounge room with. We’ve bombed the house twice & I think they’ve finally gone. Last night The Gameboyfriend came home with a present for me, which he proudly presented me with after strewing his clothes all around the house & leaving his shoes right in the walkway between my desk & the couch, where I always trip over them. His present was a nit comb. I had to comb his hair for ten minutes before he finally believed me that he does not have fleas (he doesn’t).

A few weeks ago I (re)read The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic series (visit Readathon 2012 to view this year’s reading list) & found myself utterly appalled at Becky’s spending. I buy a fuck of a lot of clothes, e’ery day, & I get almost everything from second hand shops (cream silk dress, brand new with tags from a young Australian designer, $9.90? Fuck yes.) so I don’t pay a lot per item, but reading Becky’s fictionalised & OTT addiction to shopping made me wonder if I buy too much. That led to the wardrobe cleanout of March. Everything in that enormous pile hadn’t been worn in over a year, & a vast proportion of the clothes had never been worn by me.

I filled nine garbage bags & an enormous cardboard box with perfectly good jumpers, jeans, dresses, cardigans, shoes, boots, sandals, tops, everything. I buy so much rubbish because it’s $4 from the op-shop, or it’s green, & I hardly have any green (or red/pink/blue/orange/grey, everything except purple really, I hate purple), or it fits perfectly, & how rare is it to find a black pencil skirt that fits perfectly even though I’ve already got four at home that I don’t wear? Only I can’t throw them away because one day I will need a black pencil skirt/grey knitted dress/red singlet/pink elbow-length cardi, & I need this one because the one/five/nine I’ve already got might be too tight, too short, too long, not sexy enough for the outfit I find myself needing it for.

ENOUGH.

The clothes I kept still don’t fit in the space I have for them, & I don’t even store my clothes in our bedroom anymore. I used one of the spare bedrooms as my dressing room, with a built-in wardrobe, & it’s also jammed full of extra chests of drawers to store my stuff, & I had to justify long & hard to keep the clothes I did.

An example, I kept two almost identical long grey knit jumpers. They are exactly the same shade of dark grey, & the same shape – clingy tube. One is long enough to wear over opaque tights or leggings as a dress; the other is a few inches shorter & is definitely Not A Dress. (I am beginning to accept the limitations of Office Work and Things Which Are Not Dresses.) I should donate the shorter one to the Salvos, because I prefer longer jumpers that I can pretend are dresses because I’m quite short, but it has adorable little buttons on the sleeves, so I like it better than the longer jumper.

Really what I should do is cut the buttons off, sew them onto the dress-jumper, & donate the jumper-jumper back to the Salvos where I bought it. But they both only cost me about $6 & one jumper won’t make that much of a difference to my drawers so why can’t I just keep both? Only I over-analyse EVERY PIECE OF CLOTHING I OWN. Like hoodies. I don’t even like hoodies. They no longer fit my aesthetic, & I feel unsuitably casual when I wear them. Last year I wore a hoodie twice, I think, & once was because my old boss told me I always looked too nice to work for him. But each winter, when it’s cold, I find another adorable hoodie in an op-shop for $4-6, & I buy it because One Day I Might Want To Wear A Hoodie. This is why I own seven hoodies that I can think of. When I got home & go to my wardrobe, to my hoodie shelf, I bet I’ll find at least five more I’ve forgotten about.

I keep buying red things, because even though I hate red, & look terrible in red (I’ve a very pink complexion), one day I will think ‘this dress would be perfect with a red belt/cardigan!’ & I will need this red item of clothing, & I will hate myself for not buying it. Come on, it’s only $7, & I brought my lunch to work yesterday & today so I deserve it, for being so clever with my money.

In three weeks, I’ve bought one yellow dress, which I’ve challenged myself to wear to work one day each week. I’ve worn it to work four times now (twice in the first week, once last week & today), & changed up the shoes/belt/cardigan/handbag each time. It cost me $20, & so far it’s equaling all of those $5 sundresses I’ve bought from the Salvos, worn once & forgotten.

I’ve bought two pairs of black leggings, because I ripped open my two old pairs of black leggings irreparably on the same day. I bought a mustard yellow neck warmer (like a scarf, but less dangly & confusing) from a woman selling her hand-knitted wears for charity, because I appreciate hand-knitted items & for $5 it was a bargain. Not Buying Stuff is so hard, but at least I’ve given myself some leeway.

I bought the yellow dress because it’s very work-appropriate with a sensible skirt length, high neckline & cap sleeves, so I know I can put it on in the morning when I have eight minutes to get dressed & not worry about my tits or arse hanging out. I am allowed to buy Quality. I spent three days checking on the same black shoes in Wittner each lunchtime ($130, black leather flats with leather lining & arch support, & soles that won’t get soaked through if I have to walk through the rain) before deciding that even if I adored them, I wouldn’t wear them because the vamp was too high (sad, but true.), & that even though I’d cherish them for being expensive & not shit like all my Rubi & Payless black flats, I didn’t love them enough to justify spending $130, so it would still be a waste of money.

Why am I still talking about this. LAURA YOU DO NOT NEED ANY MORE CLOTHES.

I can’t sleep at night // But just the same // Oh I never weep at night // I call your name

Today is Henna Day, which means instead of wearing clothes I’m wandering about the house like a lost soul in a sports bra & a maxi skirt, & my head is slathered in mud. Fragrant mud.

I enjoy wandering around the house dressed madly, & this is the comfiest dress ever (even though I usually pull down the straps & wear it like a skirt). Once I’ve found a good spot in the house to rest a camera I’ll take outfit shots.

Everything is secured up with one of those mesh headbands that were so cool in like, 2002.

I really like the smell of henna. Before I first started using henna in November of 2010, I read that it was one of those polarising things, like coriander – either you love it, or you hate it. Fortunately, I love it. It smells like grass, only more pleasant, which is great because I fucking hate grass. Grass exists solely to make your shoes soaking wet in the one metre of nature strip between your front path & the road, & to allow your boyfriend to claim he does a lot of housework because he mows the lawn (I’d chop my toes off again if I ever tried). I HATE GRASS. Incidentally, The Gameboyfriend is mowing the lawn right & now & it smells just like henna, which is quite nice even if it is drowning out the vanilla essential oil I’ve got burning.

Off that tangent, as I’ve said today is henna day, which means I’ve got to spend between six & twelve hours marinading under this stuff. I always intend to do the whole twelve for the maximum dye penetration but it feels like I’m wasting my weekend sitting at home watching telly like I do on weeknights. The Gameboyfriend thinks henna smells gross so he won’t let me sleep with it in, which is fair enough I reckon.

 

Because I am trapped inside the house today, Auntie Vera & I have been taunting the kittens, putting them inside boxes & things & teasing them with a bell tied to a bit of yarn. Once we managed to find them, anyway. That was a task & a half.

The kittens spend most of their time in the loungeroom, since it’s cozy & full of places to hide, & they’re not allowed in the bedrooms. They weren’t on the couch or inside any of the bookshelves, & I couldn’t find them in the kitchen.

So of course it turns out they were wedged into a gap between that old PC & bookcase there.

We discovered that kittens love cardboard boxes & The Gameboyfriend’s shoes.

 

 

 

 

“KITTENS KITTENS gotta get down on KITTENS”
“If you sing that again-”
“FRIDAY FRIDAY”
“I’ve lost what little respect I had for you.”
“You had no respect for me, why lie for.”

 

First!

Just what I need! Another social platform!

Web-designer friend (see the Introduction page here) & I are arguing over whether or not I am to refer to him as Auntie Vera. I think I am inclined to do so. He does not agree, but he hasn’t given me anything better yet & I can’t just refer to him as The Person With Whom I Am Currently Arguing because that will cease to be the case & then what?

Phill says hello alsoThis evening we all (The Gameboyfriend, Auntie Vera & I) went to Bunnings & bought shelving for the kitchen. Then we came home & all got on our computers so it looks like the shelving is going up tomorrow instead of today. The Gameboyfriend also promises that tomorrow he is going to clean the shower & mow the lawn, as well as put away the clean washing of his that has been sitting in the loungeroom for six weeks now, but we’ll see.

I also went through my wardrobe today, to chuck out some stuff I don’t wear anymore. I have an entire room for my clothes, & I still have to pile stuff on the spare bed because all the shelves, drawers & clothes hangers are full. Well fuck dat. I chucked out a bunch of stuff, & it filled seven garbags. Then when I went to put the things lying on the bed away, there was still too much to fit it all in the drawers.

On Thursday I bought a hat, because it looked so damn good with the dress I was wearing when I tried it on on Saturday. It doesn’t look as good now, but being it cold, rainy, inside & night time might have something to do with that.

Cokes shared with Laura today: 0