FRIDAY (Sunday)

God no.

Another viral wannabe-sensation. But for all the wrong reasons. Auto-tune could not save this sorry soul.


-xx

University Lawns

Life as a university student has officially started for me. I’ve even become one of those people that sit on the lawns at lunchtime and read some philosophical Latin play. I would say that I do it out of enjoyment but I actually take Latin as a class and I’m seriously lacking in the language-talent department.

I’ve made a few friends in class (yay! Not a loner!) but my lectures are friggin’ huge and consisting of 90% male. That’s what you get if you do maths and physics. I can only blame myself.

Living in Melbourne is decidedly more expensive, but with Queen Vic Markets just around the corner, I can keep in my budget. Best thing about being at uni though? Use of the Rowden White Members Library. I never need to hire out dvd’s, download tv shows or buy books anymore, I can just borrow them out for free! Muppets in Space, here I come.

Calculus lecture calls. Carpe Dium.

-xx

Utopia

“I was born a hater of injustice; from my most tenders years my blood boiled against heaven when I beheld the sick, and against men when I witnessed the sorrows of the poor; the pauper’s crust stuck in my throat when I sat down to eat my dainites, and the cripple child has set me weeping.

What was there in that but what was noble? And yet observe to what a fall these thoughts have led me! Year after year this passion for the lost besieged me closer. What hope was there in kings? What hope in these well-feathered classes that now roll in money?

I had observed the course of history; I knew the burgess, our ruler of to-day, to be base, cowardly and dull; I saw him, in every age, combine to pull down what was immediately above and to prey upon those that were below; his dullness, I knew, would ultimately bring about his ruin; I knew his days were numbered, and yet how was I to wait? How was I to let the poor child shiver in the rain?

The better days, indeed, were coming, but the child would die before that. Alas, your highness, in surely no ungenerous impatience I enrolled myself among the enemies of this unjust and doomed society; in surely no unnatural desire to keep the fires of my philanthropy alight, I bound myself by an irrevocable oath.”

An excerpt from ‘The Dynamiter’ by Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny Van DeGrift Stevenson.

Proof that the problems of our age transcend time.

- xx

Benefits Of Education

Sometimes I thank my mother for making me cook a lot of my own meals when I was young. It’s made me understand and appreciate ingredients and the flavours they bring to the dish more acutely.

I don’t know what I would do in uni life if I couldn’t whip up little cheap and easy numbers like this…

Chicken Vermicelli Soup

2 chicken breasts cut into thin strips.

2 cups of diced carrots, onion and celery (or vegies of your choice or means).

A few bok choy leaves.

1 cup of water to 2 cups of vegetable (or chicken) stock.

Rice vermicelli

Bring the stock and water to the boil and add the sliced chicken. Once the chicken has coloured on the outside, add the vegetables. Lastly, add the rice vermicelli to however thick you want it to be. Simmer covered for 10minutes or until the bok choy is soft. Serve piping hot and with a few chilli flakes if you want an extra kick. Season to taste.

Best eaten with chopsticks… cos it’s fun that way.

A nice, light winter warmer.

- xx

Ice Carvings

I'ma gonna go carve up the ice, y'all!!

I seriously cannot wait to get back out on the ice again, I've missed it so much. And I can't even remember where I kept my skates, it's been that long!

All this thinking about the cold and ice has me back on the coat hunt, and here's my number one priority this winter.

Do you know how hard it is to find a simple, camel duffle coat in Australia? Pain- in- the- ass.

It's the second last piece in my ever-growing coat collection.


Enjoy your so called "summer"...


- xx

Anomalies

The whole world has gone topsy-turvey!!!

What on earth are you thinking, earth?!

It's summer and I'm wearing a beanie while its raining. And excuse me while I go cuddle my cat because he's just that gorgeous all wet and 'meow'-y.

I keep forgetting (in my own absent way) that its a new year and to keep up with my new years resolution. And how do you actually keep up with a new years resolution in the first place? Was yours something that can easily be remembered like a habit or is it a one off thing that you have to wait for, and hence actually remember that you vowed to do it in the first place?

Urgh, brain spasm.

Time for me to get out of this house and get a coffee, rain be damned.

- xx

p.s. I mentioned to my dad that if I ever had a son that he would be named Ted. It now has the Grandpa Henderson seal of approval.

Chaka Demus

Despite being british, Jamie T seems to hit the summer vibe.


Damnit! Just missed out on beating my dad in the ocean race by 30 seconds... unfortunately my sister has claimed the "head of the Henderson swim team" title.

These, however, shall be miiiiiinnnnnneeeee!!... when I have sufficient monetary funds.

Om nom nom... c'mon summer...


- xx

Half Century

I figured I'd save this little number for a special occasion... first day of 2011 good enough?

Let's just say that New Years was a little surprising, and probably will have lasting effects for the next three or so days.

And here's something to help you get over that ridiculous hangover you have..

Truth be told, I kinda already knew this wee fact


Reining in the new year with a slight headache, I need to be in top shape tomorrow for a nice swim.

A 1.4km swim.

In the ocean.

Yummy.

Wish me luck!

- xx

Festive Babies

Recovered? or are we still rolling about on the floor in a Christmas lunch daze?

Festive times bring with them festive amounts of eating, and although I ate my weight in cherries, brie and roast lamb, I have successfully decreased my food baby with a jaunt around Lake Daylesford.

Yep, I was a yuppie for a day, nibbling at the boathouse in imitation Ray Bans and my lumper tied nonchalantly around my shoulders.

Back to the original day of bad jokes and backyard cricket, I received a hikers pack from my parentals. YAY! Watch out southern parts of Asia and certain cheap European countries, I'm on my way!!

It's like a christening gift, one of these packs. One you get one, it's like you're a woman of the world in my family. So far all my siblings have gotten theirs, and travelled a lot of the globe in them. Now it's my turn...

So I leave you in your pudding comas with high spirits as I plan (with money I don't have) one of the most exciting and fulfilling/enlightening adventures of a lifetime!


...


And find me one of these...

- xx

Cowboys And Tea

See, here is where I write something witty or ravishingly hillarious..

Sorry, just not hitting me today.



One thing though, that I do love, is the absurd.

And while perusing the vast space that is the Internet (or more specifically YouTube) I came across this.

It's just so bad, it's good. I mean even the title screams "WTF?!"


You may have noticed (if you live where I do) that it's supposed to be summer. But weirdly I'm wearing a beanie and ugg boots. Why do you rob me of my glorious sunshine and sun-baking weather, global warming?!

Despite that, it has allowed me to brew up my own homemade Chai tea recipe. Want it? It's breathtakingly easy to make and surprisingly good.

To every tablespoon of tea leaves, you add:
1 heaped tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of ground ginger
1/2 tsp of ground cloves
cadamon seed.. (depends what you like, remember they're very strong!)

mix it half and half with hot milk and add a teaspoon of honey for sweetness.

Voila!!.. enjoy

- xx


p.s. I want those teacups

... So Now What Do I Do?

Around the state, 50 000 students just received their first ATAR...

And I shall express my joy in the language of the future.. binary


01100101 01101001 01100111 01101000 01110100 01111001 00100000 01110011 01100101 01110110 01100101 01101110 00100000 01110000 01101111 01101001 01101110 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01110010 01100101 01100101!!!!!!

It's exactly what I had hoped for, and almost exactly what I predicted.

And the binary bit? Just cos I could   =P



- xx

My Marionette

In this fast paced day and age, I miss certain things about the old world. Well I guess I can’t really say that I miss them because I’ve never really had the chance to experience them. But it’s the idea that counts right?

Back in the day, they didn’t exist to work. They lived life; they savoured moments and shared occasions that we barely have the time for these days.

There were once a moment in time where people travelled by train to different cities and appreciated the sights along the way, where a trip to the countryside was romantic through the pure natural beauty of it.

Where did that time go? Since when did we care only about careers and money? I don’t know whether it’s the Christmas spirit infecting my brain, but I really just want to soak in these next few weeks as much as I can.

I want to be swept from this high-speed life to somewhere quiet with new faces and where I can experience new things. Take control of your life like you are your own puppet master.

I need my own escape to that romantic old era. Can someone give me a lift?

- xx

Images from deviantart.

Rose Coloured Glasses

It's a disturbing truth that a person is more creative and innovative when they're in the darkest of places.

Why is it that a person needs to (generally) be in that dejected state of mind before they can really open up their ideas?

It seems that while life is taking away all you happiness/comfort, it's giving you the gift of artistic genius, sharing a little of its perfection with you as part of a compensation deal.

It's a bitter-sweet moment, when someone can sit and express life in its rawest form.

A moment that I feel is catching up on all of us...


- xx

Simple Pleasures Take Two

Close your eyes, don't say anything.

Just listen...

Famous, but a favourite.

Thank you George Winston.

-xx

Air To Breathe

Fuck you, and fuck her too.

Sorry, just digging the feel-good songs at the mo..

In other news, nothing has really changed. So I guess that doesn't make it news. It's like its the Anti-news, Jeze-news, Beezel-news, in any shape and form the arch enemy of "news".

I guess I might take this opportunity to put a little rant to you guys. I know that's probably the last thing you want to hear and its not really my style to get emotional or woe-y but I think it may have a few therapeutic benefits, so sit tight soldiers...

In the past four years where I've been, it seems that a certain mould has come to be placed on me by those around me. And I guess it's been stemmed from being the quiet one when I first came here, I mean,  "I-said-two-words-a-day" quiet. And because I kinda have a tendency to be a bit more down to earth or "serious" than those around me.

Gee, it sounds like I'm not suited to my friends.

But that's not the case here. It's more of a matter of that's not who I am. I've been set so securely like concrete in this mould of a person who won't laugh, who's not fun or a go-getter or someone who always wants to break up the good times by being too serious.

I just wish people would see it as sense, not a lack of sensibility.

I'm not like that mould, I don't want to be like that mould. But people seem to be giving me no air, and at the moment that's what frustrates me.

...........

Rant over!!

Enjoy the good times while they're here, don't let them pass.

- xx

Black Magic Woman

Summer (spring) is here ladies and gentlemen!

And I welcome it with open arms.

I've finished my high schooling and am now a completely unattached being. There's nothing to study for, and there's nothing that needs to be in. I can simply sit back and loll about. It's bliss.

But then again it's like the calm before the storm. Results are out on the 13th of December and then everything returns to hectic as everyone figures out what they're going to be doing next year.

Fingers crossed for Medicine in Tasmania.


Now that there's nothing to constantly stress me out, I've kinda turned bohemian and "love life". Not saying that its an undesirable way to be, I'm just thinking that its a nice/drastic change from the controlling-nervous-breakdown-stress monster that I was before.

Woo!

Holy shit, (sorry), but I just realised that I can now actually read a book that isn't a textbook!
Or maybe more importantly, write my book.

Yeah, that's right, I have a book on the brain. I've actually had it sitting there for a while but now I have some time to put it down on paper/microsoft word. Anyone that has the slightest connection to me knows that I eat books for breakfast.

Oh, and another great thing about summer? Friends, the beach and summer playlists.

-xx

Images from deviantart.

The Great Secret

As Socrates said long ago; "I know I am wiser than many others, because I am aware of my own ignorance, and they are not."

I have left you a list of books to read, but the world about you is very antagonistic to you. A woman who thinks is an outcast. The average young man is afraid of her, and so she goes on her way in a solitary state; and few young women can stand that. We are sadly human, all of us, and if the price of knowledge is to sit alone on the Olympian heights, we are not prepared to pay it...

You really do find the most... enlightening things, in forgotten literature.

-xx

I Feel You Moving

Just behind my back, at the edge of my eyes..

Hey blog-people-he-she-its...

I've been up in the bush for the weekend and the simple change of scenery can alter your whole perspective. I mean, just sitting up here with my old man and the way he lives life is so different from 80km down the road.

It was so refreshing to wake up in the morning and have him say, "what do you want to do today? I know you've got maths and stuff, but let's do something different." Ahhh.

Say, I know people normally don't comment on the posts, and I'm not entirely sure that people read them at all, but I was hoping that one of you might reply to this one.

My query to you is this; what do you think it takes to achieve what you want?

I know the stock-standard reaction is "determination" but some ventures call for a different kind of quality. Do you have any examples, personally or otherwise? It'd be interesting to know.

That's all folks!

-xx

Backyard Of A Friends Place

I've seen better days

Put my face in my hands

Get down on my knees and I pray to God

Hope he sees me through to end...

Epitome of the Australian easy listening tunes.. thanks Pete Murray for the dreams of warmer days and good looking surfers.

Aka you.

-xx

Crying Shame

So much work to do, so little time!

Tomorrow I finish my week long lectures at Melbourne Uni to prepare myself for the end of year exams.

Sigh.

I'm going to walk out of my last exam crying, I don't care if I go all red and puffy, there will be tears. I even feel like crying just thinking about it.

And my goals seem to be slipping out of my reach faster than I think them up...

I miss human interaction. I miss simply having a debate over the larger things in life. I miss having time to myself.

I almost want to be old so I can retire early.

-xx