What's with today, today?

I feel terrible looking at this blog and seeing that there are no posts at all in March. Which means I guess that there are not many people reading at the moment? You have all probably given up on me. It makes me sad because I do check the blogs, and I like a nice regularly updated blog to keep me entertained and up to date. It's just that with moving house, organising a wedding, and not having home internet, it has been a little hard. Happily I now have some spare time. Well, it's not exactly spare, but printing things takes a long time and it's the computer that has to do all the work, so I'm free to update! Yay! And what's news? I'm getting married in two days! Which is pretty crazy. Andrew and I have been running around like mad all week, and I'm sure not everything we wanted to do will get done. Note for others, when getting married, doing everything yourself to save money may sound like a good idea, but may also drive you crazy. And therapy doesn't...

I had a very eventful weekend, I moved house. Well, not completely, there's stuff still to be packed and moved but I'm living in Stanmore now. Unfortunately this house does not have internet access as yet, and since my laptop has been broken for some time I'm not sure when internet access will be forthcoming, so no regular internet access for me. :( So this blog will likely be even more neglected... But it's kinda exciting anyway, and I also got to see Merry and watch Juno (which I recommend, by the way! Also liked the soundtrack). Hi everybody by the way! Also I have been shopping for wedding shoes and I find that my feet are too big and practically nothing fits them. Stupid feet.

Haven't written a blog post in a while... And have been meaning to write up my book list from 2007, so in lieu of thinking of something interesting to say here it is: New books read in 2007 Puccinni's Ghost- Morag Joss The Secret River- Kate Grenville. Good, but sad. Well drawn characters really make this book what it is. Mister Monday- Garth Nix Grim Tuesday- Garth Nix Drowned Wednesday- Garth Nix Sir Thursday- Garth Nix. Young adult fantasy, read on beach holiday, fun. Enduring Love- Ian McEwan. Really very much liked this one. Well written, messes with your head a bit. Daughter of Fortune- Isabel Allende. Pretty cool, sweeping historical adventure. The Memory Keeper's Daughter- Kim Edwards. Why are so many of the books I read so sad? Black Swan Green- David Mitchell A review of this made me start reading David Mitchell. Still like number9dream best. Great Northern?- Arthur Ransome Wieland- Charles Brockden Brown. For American Gothic course, one of few books I finished f...

I just got a phone call. Not all that puzzling you might say? But you would be wrong. Firstly, it was a phone call to my home phone number in the middle of the day. Secondly, I was already on the phone to Andrew at the time. Now, sad to say, I very rarely get phone calls from people other than Andrew, and everyone seems to call my mobile anyway, particularly in the middle of the day when I might reasonably be expected to be out and about. So I expected telemarketers or a wrong number. What I got was a lack of response when I said hello, and then an elderly voice saying "yes?". I had answered the phone, and at that unhelpful response gave my name, so that they could determine whether it was a wrong number. If I could remember word for word the conversation that followed I would write it down, but all I can remember is my growing conviction that this old lady was waiting for me to give my reason for calling her. She sounded quite confused. I asked her who she wanted to talk to...

So writing a post about fear of death and how I wasn't generally scared, and what happens to me but I get into an accident. Worst car crash I've ever been in, but no-one was hurt apart from the cars. What happened was, Andrew was driving me home to Maroubra, and then this car came through an intersection, we just saw the lights and Andrew braked then it hit us on the side and we spun round, not really knowing where we'd end up. We ended up halfway up on the kerb, facing almost the way we'd come, with the car door smashed in and the rear wheel out of place. We both got out the passenger door. Then it was just a two hour or so wait until the police arrived, they were tied up with a bigger crash in which someone was trapped. So we were lucky, and only scared, but I'm still not sure how much fear of death generally affects me.

I recently read 'White Noise' by Don DeLillo. Every time I would go to pick up the book, that line from 'Gold Mine Gutted' by Bright Eyes would pop into my head. Funnily enough, I always thought of it as "Don DeLillo whiskey", it just recently occured to me that it might be "DonDelillo, whiskey". I thought Don DeLillo liked to include whiskey in his books, or maybe was an alcoholic, and that his name was used as some sort of associative descriptor. Then it dawned on me that this was just a list. Commas make a difference people, but it's hard to hear them sometimes. If Don DeLillo and whiskey did not prove to have any great connections, then Don DeLillo and Bright Eyes certainly seem to. I was listening to the album 'Digital Ash in a Digital Urn', on which 'Gold Mine Gutted' is found while reading 'White Noise', because getting the song in my head was bugging me, and for a sense of symmetry. Doing this was like a revelation...

So, hte beginning of the new year, time to reflect on the old year... Haven't gotten around to posting up books of 2007 yet, but I was voting for the Triple J Hottest 100 today and it made me reflect on the music that I liked so I think I'll try my hand at some music reviewing. Here are some top picks and new discoveries, in no particular order- Bright Eyes- Cassadaga The CD that I have been waiting for ever since I first heard Bright Eyes, since it contains the song 'I Must Belong Somewhere'. This CD did not let me down, it had some awesome songs, and continued the great Bright Eyes tradition while at the same time sounding different to all the other albums. What can I say, Conor Oberst is a genius. That said this probably isn't my favourite Bright Eyes album, it's very good, but I'm not sure if I liked the swirly new age sounds as much as the countrified 'I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning'. Still a great buy. Cloud Control- Cloud Control (EP) I ...

Yes, it is only days away from Christmas Day, and no, I haven't finished my Christmas shopping, but to get into the Christmas spirit I'd like to write a post about flat Christmas, which happened a few days ago, a celebration of Christmas for the inhabitants of my flat, and Andrew. On Saturday, to be exact. We had stockings, made by Ang (beautifully made) and filled by each other with various stocking like fillers, such as chocolate money and parachute men. There was Christmas dinner and presents from all. It was a little hard to finish Christmas dinner (roast chicken and vegetables) after all the chocolate but it was delicious enough that we succeeded. Oh, and I got a new hat! Like my old one that was tragically lost, but also different. And a bag! And earrings and chocolate and lollies. I think by far the highlight of the day for me was the bubble blowing. We got champagne bubbles in our stockings, and proceeded to spend much of the afternoon blowing bubbles off the balcony a...

In amongst the various events that make up my life I went and watched Beowulf the other day, with a bunch of Old English people. There was surprisingly little laughter during the movie. I was very disappointed with it as it just wasn't as bad as I'd hoped it would be. That's what I want out of a Beowulf movie, cringing and laughter and wonderment at what happened to the plot. Ok, this movie did take great liberties with plot and characters and most things I suppose (Heorot looked very 12th C. for instance) but sometimes you have to accept that in a movie and appreciate it for itself. That makes it sound better than it is, and let me say that the character of Beowulf drew the most laughs, as well as the strange amount of nudity. But there were eerie moments and battles that commanded some amount of respect. I wish I saw it in 3d, it was clearly made for it, but I don't think I could have handled Imax for some bits. One of the things I most appreciated about the movie was...

Yesterday was the second federal election I've ever voted in, which was pretty exciting. At the polling booth the woman who handed me my ballot asked me if this was my first election. When I said no she looked surprised and told me I looked like a baby. *sigh* I get that all the time. I voted below the line, hopefully legibly, cos I like my preferences. Although there are alot of parties which I have no idea where to preference. Last night it was on to an election party in Balmain, with coverage from two different tv stations, radio and internet. There were sheets of paper to write up predictions and results as they came out, as well as a collection of various election posters (and food and rink, of course). There was a clear majority of Labor supporters, so the mood was particularly joyful, and much cheering could be heard. Especially at all the results for Bennelong, although last I heard there was no final result. But Maxine McKew was looking pretty chirpy. So, now we have a Lab...

Today I had arranged to meet someone from work at Coogee at 8:30 for a day at the beach. Sadly I went to bed rather late last night (surprising, I know) so dragging myself out of bed this morning was particularly difficult. Looking out the window revealed a sky full of clouds but devoid of rain so I set off, catching a bus through peak hour traffic, and arrived (more or less) on time, only to discover that my friend had decided not to come since the weather was bad. Not a problem, I set out to go back home. I had two options: take a bus home, which would take around 10 mins, and go back to sleep or walk home. I chose the latter. It took I guess around an hour and a half, and the walk was somewhere between 2 and 5 kilometres (I found the signposts very confusing) but it was very nice to walk home along the cliffs. I took millions of photos (just for fun) along the way. It was hard not to, because around every new corner was a new scene that was arresting or just plain beautiful that I f...

If there is one writers trick that I hate, it is the incomplete ending. No, that is not the right word, ambiguous endings are fine, endings that do not end or wrap things up I can tolerate, even though they make my heart bleed. At least they can have a sense of rightness and make up a good book. I am talking about the endings that call into question the rest of the story, that play with subjectivity. Those of you who have read 'Life of Pi' will know what I mean. It's a low down dirty trick and I don't appreciate it. And come on, we're reading fiction, it is subjective, but more than that it is untrue. Have the decency to decide what ending you are going to write, for goodness sake. The 'this is a fictionalised account of fictional events' line is a little ludicrous. The worst excesses of post-modernism, and too clever for its own good. I love alot of post-modern fiction, don't get me wrong, but not if it plays this trick on me. No. I like narrative, but...

I finished my last exam ever on Monday! What a feeling... I finished it early but stayed to the end, just to get the "pens down" (or rather, "finish your sentence") moment for the last time. 'Twas an odd experience. Not all that exciting somehow, like it was hard to convince myself that THIS was the end. Partly I guess because it already felt like I was finished, after the thesis, and the essays, and everything. So many small endings. Now I am officially on holidays, although it doesn't really feel like it, since I've been working every day and trying to actually get wedding stuff done. But Monday was good. After the exam I headed to Manning bar with Sam, where we ate chips, I drank coke and we did the crossword. All in good uni tradition. Ok, I had one beer. But only one. Drinking beer then heading off to look at reception venues with a bag still loaded down with uni stuff is fun. Makes you reflect on life, y'know? The afternoon was pretty hectic, a...

As I write this I am sitting at the IT desk at UTS, and there is a huge crowd of Harry Potter fans collected in the foyer area outside. They've been singing songs, but now are all lining up for a group photo. And why? Because a web-based podcast (Mugglecast, for those interested) just had a live show in one of the rooms here. Basically, these are fans of a show run by and for fans of a book. Several degrees of fandom. The presenter (for those unintiated, a podcast is like an online radio show, designed to be played on ipods. Or something like that. You can also podcast lectures, etc.) came to Australia all the way from the US for this event, all paid for apparently, this thing makes good money from advertising. This guy is all of 19 years old, and he is currently surrounded by a huge crowd of teenage girls wanting his autograph, to talk to him, etc. Crazy, but impressive. He wielded a microphone pretty well though, from the sound of it, despite technical difficulties. I'm prett...

I finished my thesis last week, and since then have been relaxing, and finding myself strangely uninspired to write a blog post. There're usually most blog posts in times of essay writing and procrastination. So what have I been doing instead in the (almost) week since I've handed in my thesis? Well, I went straight to the pub (or Manning Bar) and spent an afternoon there with other honours students, reflecting on how good it felt to be finished. Then off to Bible study. I had uni, I worked (3 shifts since Wednesday), read a very trashy book and started another much less trashy (Crime and Punishment, going to take me a bit longer to finish). I've read a bridal magazine, and started wedding planning. Kind of. I watched 'Beowulf and Grendel' and 'Star Knight'- two very, very bad movies. 'Beowulf and Grendel' is completely different to the poem, 'loosely based' would be the way to describe it. They introduce a completely new character, who has ...

- pass by Taylor Square on Oxford St.. There is usually at least one person asleep. True story. If you pass by early enough there will probably be people still lined up to get into clubs. I'm never up that early though... - count couples in Hyde Park. - in October or November walk around Darling Harbour and over the bridge, with an eye out for school formals. Then drink a cocktail and ride the monorail all the way around. - sit on the Opera House forecourt and discuss life with a couple of good friends. - watch sunrise over the beach. Best time for this is New Years. I recommend Maroubra. - travel into the city over the Anzac Bridge on a Friday or Saturday night. Travel times may vary, so I recommend taking some good music with you. - have dinner in Newtown and then browse second-hand bookshops. Follow with drinks at, say Zanzibar. Then dance around the square next door. - fall asleep in the Botanical Gardens, then wake up and explore, pretending that you've just been transport...

On Friday night, regardless of thesis, I actually organised to go and see the arts revue with a bunch of arts student friends of mine. Yes, arts is the best faculty, why do you ask? We met at Newtown and had Thai, then made it to the theatre just on time after some almost-power-walking down King St. I realise that I may have wronged the science revue, I did enjoy it and found much of it very funny. That said, the Arts Revue was immensely superior. Not just because I'm biased. Sure, the data projector didn't work, and so who knows what we missed out on? But the Arts Revue was run by Arts students after all, and therefore technology malfunctions are only to be expected. But the acting was superior I think, it just had a more polished feel to it, which made the humour more evident more easily. I'm going to steal some of Caitlyn's comments on this, as they were particularly apt, plus she has inside knowledge as someone involved with the science revue. There was less of a re...

Today be Interrrrrnational Talk Like a Pirate Day once more. Today I be dressed in a semi-piratical fashion. Arrr. There are not many people dressed as pirates today at uni, although two pirates (one dressed very like Captain Jack Sparrow) chased each other all through Manning, which was fun to watch. In other news, it is Union Election (or is it SRC?) time, and someone has painted 'Trogdor for Prez' on the graffiti tunnel, along with a drawing of Trogdor saying 'Burninate'. Hehehe. So you wanted to hear the rest of my weekend adventures? Very well, but I shall be brief. On Saturday I slept in (adventurously!) and in the afternoon my little sister came over and we all went out to watch the Science Revue. The Science Revue this year had all the charmingly amateurish qualities that you might expect, and that were present at the zine fair, but somehow seemed shorter on charm. Maybe it was the lack of comic timing or maybe it was because as much as science students pay out ...

It has been a weekend full of random uni adventures, which has made me savour my last little while of being an arts student. On Friday was the much hyped (by me) twilight markets and zine fair. I finished my thesis draft late on Friday afternoon, then wandered lonely as a cloud while running into random people that I know, including Theo (now doing a PhD in Italian, the envy of us honours students) and Brianna, a friend from primary school. I then caught up with Angi and we drank coke and beer in Manning Bar in a celebratory fashion. We lingered over our drinks and chatted to avoid getting to the zine fair on time. When we wandered over the 'twilight' was mostly gone and the 'dark' was very noticeable. But it was charming because of the fairy lights and other lighting around the place which lent a kind of glow to the area, as well as the stage lights set up on the bank building forecourt. A place that seemed meant to be a stage. We wandered some more, around the stalls...

Ghost trees in the headlights just beyond the known circle of light. The road's a discovery at night even this old familiar road fades into the vast and fathomless dark.