It's warm today (29 degrees) and sunny and I'm at work. I have not worked on Christmas Eve since I went to University and worked on the holidays in a shoe store. Work is quite empty and people don't seem to have that much to do, there are a lot of people in shorts and flip flops, I have never seen that before as people don't even wear casual clothes on fridays here. More importantantly no fruit was delivered. Which is annoying as I rely on the fruit supply to not get to hungry before lunch.
Tonight we are having meatballs, we had plans for making a big swedish christmas feast tonight, but then we couldn't get ahold of any sill and the rest of the Christmas food I'm not that keen on. So we are having meatballs instead. I like meatballs, next year maybe we do Lax Pudding, I love Lax Pudding...
Tommorow we are doing "big" christmas with a turkey and all that stuff and we have so many presents under the tree. To be honest, most of them are for me, I'm a very spoilt girl this year.
I must have been very good. I have also eaten spinach almost every day. So that should have put me on the Nice list with Santa.
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Monday, 21 December 2009
Lusse Bullar
As I said before this year there will be a different kind of Christmas for me, it is not the first time I spend Christmas i a hot climate, but it feels more different this year anyway. With all the heat and the sun I have found it hard to grasp that we are in December, it is like for a December I need wet shoes, a runny nose and very busy shopping centres to get the Christmas feelings started.
To counteract the non Christmas feelings that I have been having Mr T and I have been very busy being Christmassy (which is by now my hate word and that is all Nigellas fault), we have made Lusse Bullar, which is a Swedish saffron bun, but they are not very saffrony as the saffron we bought weren't of very good quality. Next year I will make sure to get a more reliable saffron supplier then coles the supermarket. We have also made chocolate "kola", which is nice, I have already tried it many times, You know to make sure it's not gone off or anything.
While we where doing all this "Julstok" I was watching Nigellas Christmas, 4 hours of it. And let me tell you, she is one crazy lady and she is obsessed with pomegranate. Anything can be made better with pomegranate.
Me, I'm not a fan of pomegranate, I do not like any meat mixed with any fruit. But the strangest thing that happens in all of the Nigellas cooking shows is that at the end of episode, while the credits run, they always film her eating something smeared with cream or cheese or something else dairy based wearing her bathrobe alone in the dark in the kitchen. Like she is sleep eating or something.
I find that very disturbing, like she is eating as a secret and she can only really enjoy it in the dark all alone. I'm sure there is a technical term for that type of behaviour.
Friday, 18 December 2009
Londonderry
Today after work I sat at a real nasty Irish themed pub, with real shitty irish Christmas music, looking out the window at the grey skies with the rain with wet shoes and it felt just like London.
It was kinda nice.
Then I turned my head and watched the big screen TV and found out that there are 80 bushfires surrounding the Sydney area and that the little rain fall that we have had has done nothing. Except making me feel mellow and wintery.
It was kinda nice.
Then I turned my head and watched the big screen TV and found out that there are 80 bushfires surrounding the Sydney area and that the little rain fall that we have had has done nothing. Except making me feel mellow and wintery.
Short
Today it's bring your child to work day, the place is brimming with people under 4 feet tall. It is a change in mood on the floor today, normally guys who sit around swearing and making fart jokes making sure to stake out their territory of desk space and ownership of pens are handing out chair space and stationary solely based on the fact that the person asking is so short.
I think it shows a little hummanity in this strange society. It is very nice to see, eventhought they are all very loud and I have almost tripped over one of them at least twice.
Today it is also bucketing down rain, which is great as there has been so many bushfires out in west Sydney, but it also raining on the day that Sydney busses decided they where going on an unplanned 24 hour strike. I was fortunate to be able to hail a cab as I start early in the morgning, but I can't imagine what it was like for people who get into the office around 9. Most of them would have had to work.
So I hope the rain gives up in the afternoon so that I can walk home. Feels a bit wastefull going on two cab trips in one day.
I think it shows a little hummanity in this strange society. It is very nice to see, eventhought they are all very loud and I have almost tripped over one of them at least twice.
Today it is also bucketing down rain, which is great as there has been so many bushfires out in west Sydney, but it also raining on the day that Sydney busses decided they where going on an unplanned 24 hour strike. I was fortunate to be able to hail a cab as I start early in the morgning, but I can't imagine what it was like for people who get into the office around 9. Most of them would have had to work.
So I hope the rain gives up in the afternoon so that I can walk home. Feels a bit wastefull going on two cab trips in one day.
Thursday, 17 December 2009
My ode to Libraries
I love libraries, just by going into a library it makes me feel more clever. I like the fact that they are so quiet and often very cool and has that very strange smell of dusty books. I think this is something that I'm brought up with, we used to go to the library a lot as a child and I have used and stolen books from every school library I have ever attended. I do feel a little bad about the stealing, I'm sure it was not intentional at the time, just a case of forgetting to return them and then skipping the country.
The thing that I love most about libraries is that the books are free. Which means you have the right to use/read/surround yourself with such an abundance of books that you will never be at a loss of what to read next. It also means that every book does not have to be good, it is not so bad if you get a book that is quite crap cause you do not have to finish it. You can be wasteful (obviously without ruining the books). Whereas if you buy a book, especially here in Australia where even paper back books are extraordinary expensive ( it's horrendous the price of books here) then if the book is not good, you get very disappointed and feel you wasted your money. This leads me to read books by the same few authors that I know I like. Hence no new interesting book types or stories.
The library allows me to overcome this. To expand on the authors that I normally read I decided that I will pick books from the library using the randomized technique in a colour system. To be specific this works such that I walk along all shelf's in the library and pick 6 books, all having different colours. The first time I did this I ended up with 1 gay porn book and 5 books about people either dying or being dead already. So the first time the system didn't really work out. It wasn't real porn, more like a really steamy chicklit book for gay men about men. The other books where all about death in someway. Not good for my mood at the time.
Last time it worked much better. I got an acid green book which has the craziest story in the whole world, obviously written by a guy that has smoked to much fun things. It has all things a good book should have, disappearing flatmates, hippies dressed up cockroach suits trying to take over an American naval ship by running into a fence repeatedly and really vengeful lesbians with huge motorcycles. Very entertaining. It was also a book about thrifty living, one about taxi driving and a whole heap of stories about love. I even found one that was the first book in series I read at 13 but had never read the first book of (VC Andrews). It was terrible. I remember loving it at 13 thought.
On Saturday I'm going to the library, I'm getting a whole new load. I think this time I will only pick books in the red-pink-orange colour scheme to accommodate the Christmas feelings that are coming along nicely
The thing that I love most about libraries is that the books are free. Which means you have the right to use/read/surround yourself with such an abundance of books that you will never be at a loss of what to read next. It also means that every book does not have to be good, it is not so bad if you get a book that is quite crap cause you do not have to finish it. You can be wasteful (obviously without ruining the books). Whereas if you buy a book, especially here in Australia where even paper back books are extraordinary expensive ( it's horrendous the price of books here) then if the book is not good, you get very disappointed and feel you wasted your money. This leads me to read books by the same few authors that I know I like. Hence no new interesting book types or stories.
The library allows me to overcome this. To expand on the authors that I normally read I decided that I will pick books from the library using the randomized technique in a colour system. To be specific this works such that I walk along all shelf's in the library and pick 6 books, all having different colours. The first time I did this I ended up with 1 gay porn book and 5 books about people either dying or being dead already. So the first time the system didn't really work out. It wasn't real porn, more like a really steamy chicklit book for gay men about men. The other books where all about death in someway. Not good for my mood at the time.
Last time it worked much better. I got an acid green book which has the craziest story in the whole world, obviously written by a guy that has smoked to much fun things. It has all things a good book should have, disappearing flatmates, hippies dressed up cockroach suits trying to take over an American naval ship by running into a fence repeatedly and really vengeful lesbians with huge motorcycles. Very entertaining. It was also a book about thrifty living, one about taxi driving and a whole heap of stories about love. I even found one that was the first book in series I read at 13 but had never read the first book of (VC Andrews). It was terrible. I remember loving it at 13 thought.
On Saturday I'm going to the library, I'm getting a whole new load. I think this time I will only pick books in the red-pink-orange colour scheme to accommodate the Christmas feelings that are coming along nicely
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
a clear first world problem
I went to the hairdresser last night, 3 hours it took them and I look no different really. I think it was one of those classic cases of this guy standing and snipping in the air around my head. You can't see much difference except perhaps I'm a little blonder and I smell nice of the product that he put in it afterwards.
What is with hairdressers believing I want to have hair like the 1980:s version of Princess Di.
I'm fully aware that this is only a problem for people who live in the developed world with far to much time on their hands and a job that allows their brains to run wild as it requires no talking
What is with hairdressers believing I want to have hair like the 1980:s version of Princess Di.
I'm fully aware that this is only a problem for people who live in the developed world with far to much time on their hands and a job that allows their brains to run wild as it requires no talking
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
scary
I had some very strange and scary nightmares last night. It is strange as I can replay them as a film in my head. I don't always remember my dreams but this one was so surreal that I'm happy that I remembered it. It would make a great scary movie, that I would never go and see as I hate scary movies.
It's winter, the snow lies high in the landscape. It's very cold and for some reason I'm out walking in the Forrest close to where we live in the dream. We live in a big apartment building shaped a like parentheses. The back story is that we have some kind of organisation that is close by, with a huge house which is a church or some other volunteer organisation, but actually it's a front for drug dealing, child labour and a brothel. They apparently weren't able to choose what bad things to do on the side of their volunteer work. As I'm walking in the Forrest I am thinking about a meeting with Mr T's best friend (in the dream, who will turn out be the leader of the bad organisation but I don't know this yet, except in that film way I still know this already) where he has been talking about his new girl friend who has gone missing, she is a beautiful, eastern European girl with raspberry red hair. He hasn't heard from her and he is very worried.
As I'm walking along I suddenly realise that the Forrest have change, it's still a forest but it's covered with a glass ceiling, but there is another forest growing on top of the glass ceiling. I can see the bottom of this Forrest, with the roots of the trees hanging down and the snow lying in patches on the glass. As I'm looking up I'm seeing this outer worldly beautiful young girl with raspberry red hair. She is yelling something to me through the glass ceiling in a language I do not understand but I believe to be Russian or possibly Lithuanian. She is yelling something important, but I do not understand until she yells Barbara Streisand, I touch my face and I realise I have a huge nose.
She is running fast through the Forrest and I'm running after to try to see where she is going so I can help her. She needs help and I'm trying to save her. Then I get to a huge cottage style house, it's dark and ominous but I decide to go in anyway (as you do In scary movies). I get into a huge hallway where the walls are clad in pine, it looks very much like a alpine chateau but American style huge with 20-30 rooms or more. I take my shoes off as you do in alpine houses and as I'm sneaking through the house a dark haired woman comes out of what appears to be a kitchen and she is yelling at me as she is mistaking me for the cleaner. So I step on top of the floor washing brushes and starts to clean the floor Pippin Longstocking style. I realise that I'm in danger, as soon as she realises I do not speak the language that she is yelling at me I will be caught and probably locked up so I decide to get out of the house. As I'm rushing to put my shoes back on she is starting to run towards me to stop me from leaving the house and the shoes wont go back on, the heel keeps folding on, so i run out the house with just the one shoe on. I know this is dangerous as it's very cold outside and I might get hypothermia, but I know that I'm in more danger in the house.
As I finally get out the door the lady is rushing after me and she has a frying pan which she uses to launch big snow blocks after me as I'm running down the snow covered road. As I'm running along I see two young girls who are standing outside a big red house in red snow suits and white winter hats with big furry balls on their heads (not unlike the winter hats I used to have as a child) and they are also throwing icy snowballs after me...
And then I wake up..and it's only 1 am. And I've just stared in my own at least 3 hours long scary movie.
The thing I don't get is where the two young girls came from. I think they looked a lot like me and my older sister did as kids.
It's winter, the snow lies high in the landscape. It's very cold and for some reason I'm out walking in the Forrest close to where we live in the dream. We live in a big apartment building shaped a like parentheses. The back story is that we have some kind of organisation that is close by, with a huge house which is a church or some other volunteer organisation, but actually it's a front for drug dealing, child labour and a brothel. They apparently weren't able to choose what bad things to do on the side of their volunteer work. As I'm walking in the Forrest I am thinking about a meeting with Mr T's best friend (in the dream, who will turn out be the leader of the bad organisation but I don't know this yet, except in that film way I still know this already) where he has been talking about his new girl friend who has gone missing, she is a beautiful, eastern European girl with raspberry red hair. He hasn't heard from her and he is very worried.
As I'm walking along I suddenly realise that the Forrest have change, it's still a forest but it's covered with a glass ceiling, but there is another forest growing on top of the glass ceiling. I can see the bottom of this Forrest, with the roots of the trees hanging down and the snow lying in patches on the glass. As I'm looking up I'm seeing this outer worldly beautiful young girl with raspberry red hair. She is yelling something to me through the glass ceiling in a language I do not understand but I believe to be Russian or possibly Lithuanian. She is yelling something important, but I do not understand until she yells Barbara Streisand, I touch my face and I realise I have a huge nose.
She is running fast through the Forrest and I'm running after to try to see where she is going so I can help her. She needs help and I'm trying to save her. Then I get to a huge cottage style house, it's dark and ominous but I decide to go in anyway (as you do In scary movies). I get into a huge hallway where the walls are clad in pine, it looks very much like a alpine chateau but American style huge with 20-30 rooms or more. I take my shoes off as you do in alpine houses and as I'm sneaking through the house a dark haired woman comes out of what appears to be a kitchen and she is yelling at me as she is mistaking me for the cleaner. So I step on top of the floor washing brushes and starts to clean the floor Pippin Longstocking style. I realise that I'm in danger, as soon as she realises I do not speak the language that she is yelling at me I will be caught and probably locked up so I decide to get out of the house. As I'm rushing to put my shoes back on she is starting to run towards me to stop me from leaving the house and the shoes wont go back on, the heel keeps folding on, so i run out the house with just the one shoe on. I know this is dangerous as it's very cold outside and I might get hypothermia, but I know that I'm in more danger in the house.
As I finally get out the door the lady is rushing after me and she has a frying pan which she uses to launch big snow blocks after me as I'm running down the snow covered road. As I'm running along I see two young girls who are standing outside a big red house in red snow suits and white winter hats with big furry balls on their heads (not unlike the winter hats I used to have as a child) and they are also throwing icy snowballs after me...
And then I wake up..and it's only 1 am. And I've just stared in my own at least 3 hours long scary movie.
The thing I don't get is where the two young girls came from. I think they looked a lot like me and my older sister did as kids.
Monday, 14 December 2009
Hot Christmas
This weekend we had glorious weather and I found myself thinking that it felt so strange to sit on the Danks street Christmas market listening to Christmas carols sung by the local church choir in 30 degree heat drinking diet coke. For one I don't normally drink softdrink but I had caffeine withdrawal headache and it was far to hot to drink coffee and most coffee shops version of an ice coffee here is a basically a milkshake with huge lumps of ice cream and some coffee in it. Very nice tasting but for us who has a limited tolerance of dairy product it's just not worth it.
I know this year it will be a very different experience with Christmas, I have bought a magazine which has Australian Christmas food in it, and it's quite exiting cause it's little bit more inventive then your average English roast turkey with gravy. Not that I'm slagging of the turkey, but you know, there is a limited interest in plain roast turkey from my side. So in this magazine they have a Lime roasted turkey, now I don't know what Mr T's parents are thinking about this one. I know they are looking forward to spending Christmas in the comparatively cool Sydney instead of the extraordinarily hot and humid north Queensland. So maybe they want sometime more traditional, old school roast. I think we will have to have a chat and decide what they want to eat. I promise not to force feed them pickled fish. Mainly because I have found any suppliers of pickled fish yet. I have however found a packet of gingerbread house pieces, that I'm planning to put together as decorations. Maybe even tonight. Now that I finished all the stars, I found last night that as soon as I don't have anything to do with my hands when I'm watching TV I tend to binge eat whatever is in the house and drink anything that is cool. Last night that meant cherries and white wine, which has lead to a slightly tired head today and really dodgy stomach. 1 kilo of cherries apparently is not that good for you almost as bad as an Australian Style Ice coffee.
I know this year it will be a very different experience with Christmas, I have bought a magazine which has Australian Christmas food in it, and it's quite exiting cause it's little bit more inventive then your average English roast turkey with gravy. Not that I'm slagging of the turkey, but you know, there is a limited interest in plain roast turkey from my side. So in this magazine they have a Lime roasted turkey, now I don't know what Mr T's parents are thinking about this one. I know they are looking forward to spending Christmas in the comparatively cool Sydney instead of the extraordinarily hot and humid north Queensland. So maybe they want sometime more traditional, old school roast. I think we will have to have a chat and decide what they want to eat. I promise not to force feed them pickled fish. Mainly because I have found any suppliers of pickled fish yet. I have however found a packet of gingerbread house pieces, that I'm planning to put together as decorations. Maybe even tonight. Now that I finished all the stars, I found last night that as soon as I don't have anything to do with my hands when I'm watching TV I tend to binge eat whatever is in the house and drink anything that is cool. Last night that meant cherries and white wine, which has lead to a slightly tired head today and really dodgy stomach. 1 kilo of cherries apparently is not that good for you almost as bad as an Australian Style Ice coffee.
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Little Tired
I think I'm a little tired tonight, I just got home from work and I realised as I stood outside our flat that I was trying to open our front door by swiping my work security pass in front of our keyhole.
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Excuse the crap photos
But I'm really exited to show my Christmas tree and all the ornaments I have made. The 1 of December in Australia is the first day of summer and also the first day when you can put your Christmas tree up. Normally I would not have a Christmas tree, but this year we are celebrating Christmas for the first time in our house. So I get a Christmas tree.
And I have a lovely fake 17 dollar tree from Coles (the supermarket). My plan was that I was going to make so many ornaments that you wouldn't be able to see the actual fake tree. But I forgot how darn long these beaded stars takes to make. The felt figures I made last year, so that is cheating a bit I guess.
Now we do have quite a bit of decorations in our tree, I think Mr T would like to make it even more sleek and streamlined. He has for example banned tinsel (but said nothing about bead garlands so that might make an appearance at the end of the week, who knows).
So please excuse the crap photos, it's hard to take photos indoors without a flash and no tripod.
But I give you My Super Tree 2009
Monday, 7 December 2009
A lot of things are happening and gut feeling.
People say you should listen to your intuition and that you should go on your gut feeling. Every time you watch an American cop show they go on their gut and bust a huge case, just because they had a feeling something is askew.
I wonder how many times they go ahead and go with their gut and they do something stupid. I guess they don’t make shows of those occasions.
Now I have no communication with my body, I’ve spent most of my life not listening to what it says so that I can run faster, jump higher and drink more. I understand now that was quite foolish. I would be good to be able to say that the very strange feeling in my stomach is fear of new exiting ventures or whether it’s something as simple as this situation is a bit fishy.
So I don’t know. I have to make some decisions right now, big ones. And I don’t know. And my gut is quiet as a mouse or more rumbling like a lion but that means nothing except I need to eat something I guess.
In my next life I will practice listening to my body and stop running when it hurts. Maybe then I could listen to my gut, if nothing else that would make me an awesome American cop. Maybe I would even get my own show. Then I could wear small sunglasses that I would take of dramatically and say totally random things like.
-I will see you again. I will make sure I do.
I wonder how many times they go ahead and go with their gut and they do something stupid. I guess they don’t make shows of those occasions.
Now I have no communication with my body, I’ve spent most of my life not listening to what it says so that I can run faster, jump higher and drink more. I understand now that was quite foolish. I would be good to be able to say that the very strange feeling in my stomach is fear of new exiting ventures or whether it’s something as simple as this situation is a bit fishy.
So I don’t know. I have to make some decisions right now, big ones. And I don’t know. And my gut is quiet as a mouse or more rumbling like a lion but that means nothing except I need to eat something I guess.
In my next life I will practice listening to my body and stop running when it hurts. Maybe then I could listen to my gut, if nothing else that would make me an awesome American cop. Maybe I would even get my own show. Then I could wear small sunglasses that I would take of dramatically and say totally random things like.
-I will see you again. I will make sure I do.
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
In waiting
I’m waiting for London to get to work so I can have a meeting on the phone. I should be to do the meeting on the phone from home, except I have no home phone. Well I have a home phone number but no actual physical phone. I think I might have to get myself one of those.
Other than that, today it’s the first day of summer here. Which is strange as its colder today then it was on the weekend when it was still spring. It’s also the day when people have the “right” to put up their Christmas tree. Mr T is really exited. He wants to put it up tonight, but I think we should wait till the weekend.
This is our first Christmas tree which is a big step on creating new Christmas traditions. My family tend to have a very traditional Christmas where the same thing has been done year after year. Now we will have the opportunity to create our own traditions. I reckon it will be a mix of all the old ones from our respective families. I know Mr T will most likely have a fried breakfast with ham and egg as that is what his dad used to make. I will make rice porridge I think.
The big question is, when do you get presents, on the 24:th or the 25:th or should we make it such that you get a double load…
Ohh these are issues I entertain myself with.
Other than that, today it’s the first day of summer here. Which is strange as its colder today then it was on the weekend when it was still spring. It’s also the day when people have the “right” to put up their Christmas tree. Mr T is really exited. He wants to put it up tonight, but I think we should wait till the weekend.
This is our first Christmas tree which is a big step on creating new Christmas traditions. My family tend to have a very traditional Christmas where the same thing has been done year after year. Now we will have the opportunity to create our own traditions. I reckon it will be a mix of all the old ones from our respective families. I know Mr T will most likely have a fried breakfast with ham and egg as that is what his dad used to make. I will make rice porridge I think.
The big question is, when do you get presents, on the 24:th or the 25:th or should we make it such that you get a double load…
Ohh these are issues I entertain myself with.
Monday, 30 November 2009
Bussing to the beach
I had a wonderful weekend. We hosted a birthday BBQ together with another couple as they have similar dates in their family to ours. This worked out excellent for me as I don't like to invite people to things as I assume that no-one wants to come. Now I could leverage on other peoples popularity.
I could also spend most of the time standing in front of the pedestal fan with the other couples 3 month old son instead of helping with the washing up. A gain in all circumstances.
The weekend was busy enough to keep me from going to much into my own head. My head is a bad neighbourhood that I do not like to go into alone. It takes a very short time for my mind if left unattended to get very negative and really there is very little need to be negative if the sun is out and you can take one bus and get to the beach.
We did fit in some beach time. I love the beach, Mr T, not so much a lover of the beach. His skin doesn't really agree with the sun beating down on it for long periods of time. We have bought a blue beach umbrella for him, but I still feel a little guilty for forcing him to go there as he gets no enjoyment out of it. Actually I don't know anyone from north Australia that really likes the beach that much. Which is funny as the place is littered with beaches with miles and miles of white sand.
But I guess if you have grown up with the beach on your doorstep is not that special. Especially if you can't use it during the summer due to the extreme heat and all the strange animals waiting to sting or eat you.
I can't say I'm that impressed with either snow or moose's. Which would be the only thing I could think that we have as much in northern Europe of as they have of white sand in northern Australia.
Anyway, we bought a Christmas tree. I've been making Christmas decorations to an almost obsessive level. I will show them off when they are all finished.
But now, fish soup for dinner
I could also spend most of the time standing in front of the pedestal fan with the other couples 3 month old son instead of helping with the washing up. A gain in all circumstances.
The weekend was busy enough to keep me from going to much into my own head. My head is a bad neighbourhood that I do not like to go into alone. It takes a very short time for my mind if left unattended to get very negative and really there is very little need to be negative if the sun is out and you can take one bus and get to the beach.
We did fit in some beach time. I love the beach, Mr T, not so much a lover of the beach. His skin doesn't really agree with the sun beating down on it for long periods of time. We have bought a blue beach umbrella for him, but I still feel a little guilty for forcing him to go there as he gets no enjoyment out of it. Actually I don't know anyone from north Australia that really likes the beach that much. Which is funny as the place is littered with beaches with miles and miles of white sand.
But I guess if you have grown up with the beach on your doorstep is not that special. Especially if you can't use it during the summer due to the extreme heat and all the strange animals waiting to sting or eat you.
I can't say I'm that impressed with either snow or moose's. Which would be the only thing I could think that we have as much in northern Europe of as they have of white sand in northern Australia.
Anyway, we bought a Christmas tree. I've been making Christmas decorations to an almost obsessive level. I will show them off when they are all finished.
But now, fish soup for dinner
Friday, 27 November 2009
Strange things happens
For most of us there are strange behaviours to be observed in our workplace. I think thought that after almost 10 year in work I have found the strangest one yet.
If someone leaves work early, the whole floor (aprox 200 people) gives them a round of applause.
There is a massive fridge stocked with beer and wine in the office, no-one drinks from it until Friday after the market closes. They also put on huge amount of crisps and nuts. Then it turns into a feeding frenzy.
All of sudden someone will start some random shout, which will be replicated all over the floor. I have yet to find out the reason for the random yelling.
A lot of people are not able to leave their desk all day some days. Not even to go to the bathroom. I can leave my desk whenever I want and I have never thought about how great that is.
Most people here are male, who are either exceptionally quiet, like the guy to my right who have yet to say a word or exceptionally loud like they guy across the desk. He is one of often random shouters. Maybe it’s a Tourette’s thing.
Most of them have very high octane hobbies; dirt bike riding seems very popular, as is snorkelling around with sharks with dead bleeding fish strapped to you.
There seems to be one woman over 40 on the floor. She seems really cool.
There are 8 big TV screens around the office. Right now they are all showing the cricket.
If someone leaves work early, the whole floor (aprox 200 people) gives them a round of applause.
There is a massive fridge stocked with beer and wine in the office, no-one drinks from it until Friday after the market closes. They also put on huge amount of crisps and nuts. Then it turns into a feeding frenzy.
All of sudden someone will start some random shout, which will be replicated all over the floor. I have yet to find out the reason for the random yelling.
A lot of people are not able to leave their desk all day some days. Not even to go to the bathroom. I can leave my desk whenever I want and I have never thought about how great that is.
Most people here are male, who are either exceptionally quiet, like the guy to my right who have yet to say a word or exceptionally loud like they guy across the desk. He is one of often random shouters. Maybe it’s a Tourette’s thing.
Most of them have very high octane hobbies; dirt bike riding seems very popular, as is snorkelling around with sharks with dead bleeding fish strapped to you.
There seems to be one woman over 40 on the floor. She seems really cool.
There are 8 big TV screens around the office. Right now they are all showing the cricket.
Thursday, 26 November 2009
Sweet as buttons
Today is Mr T’s birthday. Happy Birthday Good Looking. I hope you will enjoy it. For dinner we’re having home made burgers and a six pack of Forex gold. That is what I had for my birthday and I think someone is a copy cat. On your birthday you can have what ever you want, it is the birthday law. Mr T even made me a home made ice cream cake; unfortunately I could only eat little of it as not so good with dairy so he got to eat most of it himself.
Anyway, last night I was struggling home with all the presents, I say struggling as I had bought him a dumbbell set that weighed 20 kilos. It’s interesting how heavy 20 kilos are when you have to carry it to and from the buss.
As I was struggling carrying it across the big open space in front of our building (I was seriously considering dumping it there, take Mr T out on the balcony point at it and say – There’s your present, go fetch) two young guys from the building came to my rescue and helped me carrying it all the way home to the front of our apartment. As they where carrying I was chatting away, they where from Brazil, they had been here since January and they attended to the Hillsong Bible College.
We have a lot of students in our building that attend the Hillsong Bible College. You can say whatever you want about modern evangelical churches like Hillsong, but they do turn out some pretty polite students in their early 20:s, there is no way I would have been as considerate a neighbour as a student as they are. I sure as hell would not have lugged someone else’s dumbbells to their house that is for sure.
So I can add to my many blessings the in general very considerate and polite young Brazilians men in my house.
Anyway, last night I was struggling home with all the presents, I say struggling as I had bought him a dumbbell set that weighed 20 kilos. It’s interesting how heavy 20 kilos are when you have to carry it to and from the buss.
As I was struggling carrying it across the big open space in front of our building (I was seriously considering dumping it there, take Mr T out on the balcony point at it and say – There’s your present, go fetch) two young guys from the building came to my rescue and helped me carrying it all the way home to the front of our apartment. As they where carrying I was chatting away, they where from Brazil, they had been here since January and they attended to the Hillsong Bible College.
We have a lot of students in our building that attend the Hillsong Bible College. You can say whatever you want about modern evangelical churches like Hillsong, but they do turn out some pretty polite students in their early 20:s, there is no way I would have been as considerate a neighbour as a student as they are. I sure as hell would not have lugged someone else’s dumbbells to their house that is for sure.
So I can add to my many blessings the in general very considerate and polite young Brazilians men in my house.
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Crazy and questioning
I’m one of those people who always question my decisions. Did I make the right one, should I have done it differently, where would I be if I had done it this way, that way etc.
Sometimes I wish you could get a book of answers of your life ahead of time such that you would know at the start what the outcome would be. Then I would know if I’m just running away out of fear or if I’m making sensible decisions. People say you should listen to your body. It’s never wrong. But it’s hard when logic says one thing and the gut says another. The funny thing though is that the gut really likes to tell you what it thinks. It’s not ignorable anymore. I will have to make some changes, make sure I live healthier. I can’t ignore it anymore.
Sometimes I wish you could get a book of answers of your life ahead of time such that you would know at the start what the outcome would be. Then I would know if I’m just running away out of fear or if I’m making sensible decisions. People say you should listen to your body. It’s never wrong. But it’s hard when logic says one thing and the gut says another. The funny thing though is that the gut really likes to tell you what it thinks. It’s not ignorable anymore. I will have to make some changes, make sure I live healthier. I can’t ignore it anymore.
Monday, 23 November 2009
B'day
My Birthday was last week and it truly made me feel special and loved. I got so many messages, emails, phone calls and presents. It made me feel very honoured that so many people took time and effort to call me and say Congrats on my special day.
I got many wonderfull presents on the day and many more have arrived in the post today, lovely cardigans, books, plates, handbags and last but not least Stocholm themed wiping cloths. Now I can wipe the counter with blueberries.
Thank you to everyone that wished me a happy day. It made me feel very good and appreciated. I am blessed with so many people in my life that seems to think that I'm a good person. Someday might be able to convince even me.
I got many wonderfull presents on the day and many more have arrived in the post today, lovely cardigans, books, plates, handbags and last but not least Stocholm themed wiping cloths. Now I can wipe the counter with blueberries.
Thank you to everyone that wished me a happy day. It made me feel very good and appreciated. I am blessed with so many people in my life that seems to think that I'm a good person. Someday might be able to convince even me.
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Tomorrow
Tomorrow is my birthday and I'm suppose to be one year older and wiser. I wonder then how come I seem to get myself in such a frazzle all the time. I get myself wound up and freaked out over every new situation, but then I hate it and get bored when an situation get comfortable and known.
It's like I don't like change, but I really hate it when it's the same.
My sister said that maybe I'm one of those people who can only really do well when they are feeling under a lot of pressure, If I could just learn to maintain my stress level in situations of pressure that would be great.
Now I need new glasses, I've got a migraine today. Maybe that is a sign of getting older.
So, good things about this new place. There are women in this workplace. Not where I sit, but around in the general area and some of them are nice and kind of chat to you a little. That is very nice.
I sit next to a guy that has many toys (boats, cars, motorbikes et) and that likes surfing at dusk. Just when the shark feeds. I reckon he might be just the type that suits working in an investment bank. Expensive hobbies and likes scary stuff.
So that is all. I reckon this first week will be a little tough before I get used to everything again.
I'm slightly scared of everything at the moment, but Mr T says that I'm always like that, and just to put my head down and get one with everything and it shall all be alright in the end.
They are not the KGB...They can not kill me.
It's like I don't like change, but I really hate it when it's the same.
My sister said that maybe I'm one of those people who can only really do well when they are feeling under a lot of pressure, If I could just learn to maintain my stress level in situations of pressure that would be great.
Now I need new glasses, I've got a migraine today. Maybe that is a sign of getting older.
So, good things about this new place. There are women in this workplace. Not where I sit, but around in the general area and some of them are nice and kind of chat to you a little. That is very nice.
I sit next to a guy that has many toys (boats, cars, motorbikes et) and that likes surfing at dusk. Just when the shark feeds. I reckon he might be just the type that suits working in an investment bank. Expensive hobbies and likes scary stuff.
So that is all. I reckon this first week will be a little tough before I get used to everything again.
I'm slightly scared of everything at the moment, but Mr T says that I'm always like that, and just to put my head down and get one with everything and it shall all be alright in the end.
They are not the KGB...They can not kill me.
Monday, 16 November 2009
72 buttons and counting
I've started a new job today. Yes a new one. I started the old one and found that I didn't really like it as much as I had hoped. So now I've started a new one more similar to my old old one in London.
The jury is still out on whether it has been a good decision. I've just come home from my first day and there are some massive differences.
I sit on the trading floor, it's loud and noisy and people everywhere, the phone is ringing almost at all time. The office is very fancy looking. With a kitchen area with a fridge filled with free drinks and big bowls of biscuits and a caffe style ccoffee maker. So all very fancy pantsy..
The funniest thing is the ladies bathroom. You know all those super groomed and well made up city girls that you see around, you know the ones that always still look box fresh at 7 o clock at night. I have always wondered how they do that. Well I know now. They all leave huge make up bags in the bathroom at the office. The whole bathroom is chockers with make up bags and hair straighteners and hair dryers and all sort of things. It's very impressive.
The other funny thing is I have a phone on my desk with 72 buttons on it that flashes my name when someone rings for me.
I have yet to successfully make a phone call on it.
The jury is still out on whether it has been a good decision. I've just come home from my first day and there are some massive differences.
I sit on the trading floor, it's loud and noisy and people everywhere, the phone is ringing almost at all time. The office is very fancy looking. With a kitchen area with a fridge filled with free drinks and big bowls of biscuits and a caffe style ccoffee maker. So all very fancy pantsy..
The funniest thing is the ladies bathroom. You know all those super groomed and well made up city girls that you see around, you know the ones that always still look box fresh at 7 o clock at night. I have always wondered how they do that. Well I know now. They all leave huge make up bags in the bathroom at the office. The whole bathroom is chockers with make up bags and hair straighteners and hair dryers and all sort of things. It's very impressive.
The other funny thing is I have a phone on my desk with 72 buttons on it that flashes my name when someone rings for me.
I have yet to successfully make a phone call on it.
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Things that are strange.
Yesterday was my last day at work. I start my new job on Monday. I've spent longer in front of the computer today then I have done when I've been at work. I've spent 12 hours today learning a new programming language.
There is an abundance of great fresh tropical fruit. I buy it and put it in the fridge. And subsequently leave it there until it goes off. I eat chocolate instead.
Since I was my biggest (at 18) I have lost approx 6 dress sizes and almost 20 Kg. When I was my biggest I ate very healthy and exercised 10-14 times a week. Now I exercise a maximum of 3 times a week and I eat mainly anything that is placed in front of me the unhealthier the better.
I can't understand how the maths works.
I hate paper work but really like the way that paper looks when it's stacked.
I really like boxes, but only ones with corners. Round boxes really annoy me.
There is an abundance of great fresh tropical fruit. I buy it and put it in the fridge. And subsequently leave it there until it goes off. I eat chocolate instead.
Since I was my biggest (at 18) I have lost approx 6 dress sizes and almost 20 Kg. When I was my biggest I ate very healthy and exercised 10-14 times a week. Now I exercise a maximum of 3 times a week and I eat mainly anything that is placed in front of me the unhealthier the better.
I can't understand how the maths works.
I hate paper work but really like the way that paper looks when it's stacked.
I really like boxes, but only ones with corners. Round boxes really annoy me.
Wednesday, 11 November 2009
Requirements
I read my friends GB:s blog today and at the end of it she talks about what to look for in a partner. In her blog she says that a partner should always make you feel good, happy and whole.
GB and I have discussed this before and I think this is a tall order of requirement for another person to fulfil. By wanting them to make you feel good you are setting them up to fail. This does not mean that you should look for someone that makes you feel like crap, but you need to take responsibility for your own feelings of happiness and wholeness.
I think one must remember that other people’s lives are filled with them. No matter how much someone loves you or you love them they are their own first person. They live their life with a first person narrative. I am the first person in my life and you are in yours. (Maybe this changes when you have children, it seems to) In the same way that I can’t live my life to make you happy and you shouldn’t live yours to make mine a great one.
I think if you need your partner to make you feel good, what if one day you don’t. One day you wake up and you are not happy with where your life is, you still love the other person but the other things that matters are not right. Then you will feel that they have failed you. They have not made you feel good anymore. You might then end up blaming them for your feelings un-goodness and un-wholeness whereas they have not changed at all.
Then again I have no advice on how to find another person or what to look for. I don’t know, all I know is that some people you gel with and if you try to see where they are coming from at all times you are usually alright. Not yelling helps as well.
GB and I have discussed this before and I think this is a tall order of requirement for another person to fulfil. By wanting them to make you feel good you are setting them up to fail. This does not mean that you should look for someone that makes you feel like crap, but you need to take responsibility for your own feelings of happiness and wholeness.
I think one must remember that other people’s lives are filled with them. No matter how much someone loves you or you love them they are their own first person. They live their life with a first person narrative. I am the first person in my life and you are in yours. (Maybe this changes when you have children, it seems to) In the same way that I can’t live my life to make you happy and you shouldn’t live yours to make mine a great one.
I think if you need your partner to make you feel good, what if one day you don’t. One day you wake up and you are not happy with where your life is, you still love the other person but the other things that matters are not right. Then you will feel that they have failed you. They have not made you feel good anymore. You might then end up blaming them for your feelings un-goodness and un-wholeness whereas they have not changed at all.
Then again I have no advice on how to find another person or what to look for. I don’t know, all I know is that some people you gel with and if you try to see where they are coming from at all times you are usually alright. Not yelling helps as well.
Monday, 9 November 2009
Plastic fantastic
Today on the buss home I sat next to a girl with an Anya Hindmarch "i'm not a plastic bag" bag.
It was made of plastic.
Friday, 6 November 2009
Troll News
What is the best part of Friday you say, is it the fact that it’s the end of the working week or the 4 pm beer or could it be the fact that everyone is slightly chirpier on a Friday?
Oh no that is not it. For me the best thing with Fridays occurs at 7.22 in the morning when Woolworths (a big Australian supermarket) shows their weekly Market Update Advertisement.
It’s the funniest thing in the whole world. It’s the buyer of fresh produce at Woolworths that talks about what is the best vegetable and fruit for that week. The funny part is that he sounds like he is reading the financial news. And that he looks a little like a troll. Troll news about fruit sounding like he talks about the .FTSE. How could you beat that?
Have a look for yourself.
Troll News from Wollies
Oh no that is not it. For me the best thing with Fridays occurs at 7.22 in the morning when Woolworths (a big Australian supermarket) shows their weekly Market Update Advertisement.
It’s the funniest thing in the whole world. It’s the buyer of fresh produce at Woolworths that talks about what is the best vegetable and fruit for that week. The funny part is that he sounds like he is reading the financial news. And that he looks a little like a troll. Troll news about fruit sounding like he talks about the .FTSE. How could you beat that?
Have a look for yourself.
Troll News from Wollies
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
faffing
So i've been faffing about loading data and that takes some time. So to entertain myself I kept pressing the next blog button on my blogger dashboard. First there where about 15 blogs in languages I can't read. Then it was a teenage angst blog about doing homework and being grounded...
and then I found this one.....things I don't understand.
There are some absolutely great statements here. I particulary like number 35
keeps me giggling
and then I found this one.....things I don't understand.
There are some absolutely great statements here. I particulary like number 35
The flight leaves at 6 a.m.
This seems like an awkward time for an adventure
keeps me giggling
Heat
Yesterday Sydney was hot, hot and hot. 37 Degrees in the middle of day with a mild breeze. I went out for a walk at lunch time and it was like walking towards a giant hair dryer. That type of heat is unexplainable. I know for a lot of people here it’s not even considered so hot but for me, phh I’m just not built for that kind of weather. I walk to fast. I think it will take some time for me to acclimatise.
All of sudden it’s clear why people move slowly in hot countries. Moving fast just isn’t possible, it’s not laziness its survival instinct. And then today the weather is “cold” again. It is 20 degrees and rain. I just can’t get over that you can have an almost 20 degree difference in one day.
I know I will get used to this and that weather is a really boring subject to be talking about but it is all very new to me and I who can help themselves from marvelling at new things. I am also from a family who is obsessed with weather. My mother and grandfather’s conversions always started with an update on the local weather. Even thought the weather my grandfather presented was rarely a representation of the actual weather that had occurred. It is always sunny where he is even thought it might be bucketing down 500 meters down the road.
I was quite interesting to see how much people got into the Melbourne cup yesterday. Women were wearing party dresses and hats/fascinators to work solely for a race that is over in less than 2 minutes. Me and A went out for a walk and drink after work and we saw all the leftovers of the people that had had a party day. All the women stumbling home with shoes in one hand and the fascinators askew. It was great fun to watch and I’m quite happy today that I am not one of those of suffer the day after today.
All of sudden it’s clear why people move slowly in hot countries. Moving fast just isn’t possible, it’s not laziness its survival instinct. And then today the weather is “cold” again. It is 20 degrees and rain. I just can’t get over that you can have an almost 20 degree difference in one day.
I know I will get used to this and that weather is a really boring subject to be talking about but it is all very new to me and I who can help themselves from marvelling at new things. I am also from a family who is obsessed with weather. My mother and grandfather’s conversions always started with an update on the local weather. Even thought the weather my grandfather presented was rarely a representation of the actual weather that had occurred. It is always sunny where he is even thought it might be bucketing down 500 meters down the road.
I was quite interesting to see how much people got into the Melbourne cup yesterday. Women were wearing party dresses and hats/fascinators to work solely for a race that is over in less than 2 minutes. Me and A went out for a walk and drink after work and we saw all the leftovers of the people that had had a party day. All the women stumbling home with shoes in one hand and the fascinators askew. It was great fun to watch and I’m quite happy today that I am not one of those of suffer the day after today.
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Darn Alcopop
I of course won nothing. Not even on at the sweepstakes at work..
Horses,phhh..can't trust em.
Horses,phhh..can't trust em.
Put the bet on
I’ve put a bet on. But because I don’t know how to put a bet on I only ended up betting on 4 horses for me and A combined. They are as following:
Alcopop (odds 6)
Spin Around (odds 230)
Fiumicino (odds 80)
Daffodil (odds 16)
So I’m assuming with my luck I will win sweet nothing. I’m not a lucky gambler. I have never won anything as a child when we were going to the amusement parks. My sister however would always come home with something, which she would normally share with me as she is a very nice person. I think for next year I will ask her to put my bets on then I’ll be the biggest winner at the races. Yes that will be my plan. Sister K, can you do that for me for Melbourne Cup 2010.
Alcopop (odds 6)
Spin Around (odds 230)
Fiumicino (odds 80)
Daffodil (odds 16)
So I’m assuming with my luck I will win sweet nothing. I’m not a lucky gambler. I have never won anything as a child when we were going to the amusement parks. My sister however would always come home with something, which she would normally share with me as she is a very nice person. I think for next year I will ask her to put my bets on then I’ll be the biggest winner at the races. Yes that will be my plan. Sister K, can you do that for me for Melbourne Cup 2010.
Monday, 2 November 2009
Melbourne Cup - or the day of crazy hats and grassy stains
Melbourne cup is a huge thing here. The whole country stops for a bit at 2.30 in the afternoon an people pay a huge amount of attention to 24 horses running along a grassy track. And my lord are they betting money. I think it might be the biggest sporting event of the year in regards to amount of money being betted. Also fashion is a big thing for spring racing carnival. Hats are huge in both size and style.
To enter into the generall spirit of things I have decided that I to shall bet money on this. Not knowing anything about horses it would be hard for me to pick the right horses. So to circumvent this and the fact that I have to learn to program C# for my new jobb I decided to build a little C# (pronounced C sharp) application that takes all the 24 horses and randomly picks out a number of them depending on how many I want to bet on.
I have decided that I want to bet on 4 horses for place i.e. if they get in at 1,2 or 3 place I win a little money.
So my bets that have been picked by my new Melbourne Cup Random Winner Picker are as follows:
ZAVITE
ALCOPOP
DAFFODIL
CHANGINGOFTHEGUARD
And A's bets that have been picked by my new Melbourne Cup Random Winner Picker are as follows:
ALCOPOP
SPIN AROUND
FIUMICINO
DAFFODIL
I will put money on them tommorow morgning before work and hopefully will be a millionaire by the end of the day (unlikely as I'm only intending to bet 20 dollars but a girl can dream right).
Neon Blue
Jacaranda TreeIt’s coming into summer in Sydney and the weather is warm and humid. I have always been a little scared of warm and humid. Not because I will look like a flat haired sweaty crazy person because I do that anyway but more because I don’t really like smells. I don’t even like perfume or things like that because I tend to be oversensitive to the acrid and tart smells that they have. And smells are enhanced by hot and humid areas. Everyone who has been in a garbage room in summer can attest to that.
My cold northern European nose is not used to the pungent smells that exist in hot and humid countries and I the reason I freak out so much about bad smells is that you cannot get away from them. They attack you and then you are stuck with them. The really bad ones also seem to get stuck in the nose and won’t disappear even if you blow your nose many times.
So I have been a little worried lately as I’ve been walking to work cause it is getting warmer and I am expecting that stuff is going to start attacking me on the way to work and I will spend the day blowing my nose to get rid of the smells and people will think that I’m having some nose related issues, you know issues with noses and stuff that goes in them and such. Which I don’t and I don’t want people to suspect that I am and such.
Anyway, what I was going to say was. It does not smell. Or it does smell but right now the smell I’m walking through on my way to work is strawberry jasmine and the lovely waft of the neon purple jacaranda tree. Which you all must agree is not half bad as a walking companion down Bourke Street in the mornings. Sure beats the buzzed out strange people strolling long oxford street for sure. So all good really. And I spent an hour on the beach yesterday.
Sunday, 25 October 2009
Rainy Rainer
This weekend has been a mix of weather. Yesterday it was so hot I overheated and felt sick and had to buy new sandals to cool my feet down on the way back home from Manly beach.
Which by the way is a nice beach, but very busy. The best part was taking the ferry and watching all the sailing boats in the harbour. I think I will have to make friend with someone who is a salty sailor kind of person so I can go on one of them, they are so beautiful and it did seem like so much fun.
Today it's been raining crazy rain. The type of rain that looks like someone is throwing buckets of water on the window. So I've spent the day finishing up some jewellery that has been on the to do list.
I finished two necklaces and then I realised I've not made anything for me in a couple of months so I made some earnings...
Now I'm gonna send some emails and see if I can get a hold of my sister cause I need to ask some questions on how to asses that one is making the right decisions event ought it's really scary and it might fail into a piling heap of crap...
Friday, 23 October 2009
Perceptions
On Wednesday it was fantastic weather and I was home quite early from work so A and I went for a walk after dinner. We sat down at a pub just off Crown street and had a beer to watch the people and the sunset, or as much sunset that you can see in Surrey Hills. As I was sitting there waiting for A to return from the bar a really attractive surfery looking couple drove past in really old crappy car and I felt -“Ohhhh that is what I want, I want to have an old beat up banger to drive around in an look cool and surfery and hot”
As I was sitting there thinking about how cool and surfery I would look I realised. No Maria you won’t look cool and surfery in your beat up car, you will look like a soon to be old woman sitting in a shitty beat up car.
I realised that I’ve missed one of lifes opportunities to look like cool surfery dude kind of person. So that kind of depressed me. Then I realised that the cool surfery couple probably dreamed about a nice car with air conditioning and fully working breaks with a good safety rating. The kind of card I would buy if I bought a car. So that made me feel better and adult and like the kind of person that has a few extra spare portions of homemade vegetarian lasagne in the freezer for the days you can’t be bothered to cook and you don’t like eating take away food.
Just like the kind of person that I am.
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Pretty as a painting
I went to a gem show a few weeks ago. I met a lovely lady called Janet. She cuts and sells boulder opals. Boulder Opals are opals that still have some of the Iron stone matrix attached in them. Sometimes that makes them extra beautifull, alsmost like paintings and sometimes it makes them look like pikey market crap, it all depends on how they have been cut.
Janet is great boulder opal cutter as you can see in the above picture. I bought these ones solely based on the fact that they look a lot like a painting I got from my grandfather. My grandfather used to paint when he was alive. A lot. When my sister and I would visit we would sometimes get some paintings. The stone to the left in the picture looks a lot like a little tiny one that I have (somewhere in my dads flat I think, I hope) of two men in a fishing boat. The colours are the same, the composition is the same obvisouly the gem is very different. But still the same.
These stones are not that big, maybe 1.5 square centimeter. Maybe 2. I don't know what to with them, I only bought them as the reminded me of the paintings.
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
Library Finds
Last weekend I went to the library to get a stack of books. I love the library as it allows me to indulge not only in books I should read but also in proper trash that I want to read.
In my new stack of trash and also the books one should read I found an extra suprise. The person who borrowed the book last time have used a photo of her or himself as a bookmark. The person only seem to have gone half way throught the book, it's understandable it's not that good a book.
There are two people in the photo, a blond girl and a latin lover looking man. They look very happy to be sitting so close. It's a close up so I think that the girl has taken the photo herself by holding the camera up like so.
I'm intrigued by this photo. I know from the datestamp at the back that it was processed in april 2007 at 5.15 in the afternoon. Now I wonder why the photo has been used as a bookmark. Did the love go sour and that is all it was good for or did they like each other so much she wanted to have him with her in her book on the buss. I think the carrier of the book would have been a her as the book is proper chick-lit buss reading trash.
Anyway, it's nice to know that somewhere close to where I live there is a blond girl who is (or were in the sour love scenario) happy with her latin man who have equally bad taste in books as I do.
In my new stack of trash and also the books one should read I found an extra suprise. The person who borrowed the book last time have used a photo of her or himself as a bookmark. The person only seem to have gone half way throught the book, it's understandable it's not that good a book.
There are two people in the photo, a blond girl and a latin lover looking man. They look very happy to be sitting so close. It's a close up so I think that the girl has taken the photo herself by holding the camera up like so.
I'm intrigued by this photo. I know from the datestamp at the back that it was processed in april 2007 at 5.15 in the afternoon. Now I wonder why the photo has been used as a bookmark. Did the love go sour and that is all it was good for or did they like each other so much she wanted to have him with her in her book on the buss. I think the carrier of the book would have been a her as the book is proper chick-lit buss reading trash.
Anyway, it's nice to know that somewhere close to where I live there is a blond girl who is (or were in the sour love scenario) happy with her latin man who have equally bad taste in books as I do.
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
I now know
Why the wear the caps when they are swimming in the Olympics. It’s because they make your head buoyant. You float better; this morning I was swimming so fast that I tipped over. I can ‘t use my legs and my right arm is stronger than my left arm when I get tired the left arm can’t keep up and I tip over. It’s quite humorous to see. I look like seal playing in the water.
This is however not the effect I am striving for; I’m working more towards a Michael Phelps/Dana Torres powerful boat look. Actually I am improving. Now If I am swimming my best best swimming technique the fastest I can possibly manage I can almost keep up over 25 meters with A:s casual frolic warm up swim.
However the caps do not keep your hair dry or water out of your ears; which is why I was using it in the first place. So now my blonde hair has a green tinge and my ears are clucking like a half filled cups.
Monday, 12 October 2009
Happy B’day
It’s now 6.30 in the morning in Sweden and I’m waiting for it to be a reasonable hour before I call my mum and sing Happy B’day to her. This is one of the many things that one must consider and pre-plan when you live in different time zones.
And phone calls are one of the hardest things to fit in when you live 9 hours apart. This means that I mainly talk to my family on Sunday nights. Which is great and sad at the same time. Just the time when I am at my most tired and most Sunday night moody I talk to them. I’m never as happy then as I might be on a Friday morning. So I guess they get a skewed view on how I like my life. It is unfair to this country and to this experience. Things in life are always harder and moodier on a Sunday night then on any other night of the week.
I think Skype is probably a life saver for long distance family calls. As it is free it means that you don’t have to rush through what you were going to say and there is time to show the new things you bought at IKEA. (Oven gloves, very nice ones as
I accidently put fire to the old ones. I’m not kidding. We have a gas hob and all our pots have metal handles and I was taking a pot of the stove and didn’t realise my oven glove was on fire until the fire alarm went. One problem with having a very high pain threshold is that you don’t really feel when your hands are on fire)
Other things that needs to be pre-planned is birthday cards. I’ve never been good at sending cards or I have never been good at sending cards on time.
However in London I would always blame it on the Royal Mail. Here however the Australia post is a very efficient postal company so the fact that things are never delivered on time is that I most likely post the card on the birthday or a couple of days later.
So happy Birthday Mum, the reason your card is late is that I didn’t post it until today. I’m very sorry about that. I will get better.
Better and stronger than ever before
And phone calls are one of the hardest things to fit in when you live 9 hours apart. This means that I mainly talk to my family on Sunday nights. Which is great and sad at the same time. Just the time when I am at my most tired and most Sunday night moody I talk to them. I’m never as happy then as I might be on a Friday morning. So I guess they get a skewed view on how I like my life. It is unfair to this country and to this experience. Things in life are always harder and moodier on a Sunday night then on any other night of the week.
I think Skype is probably a life saver for long distance family calls. As it is free it means that you don’t have to rush through what you were going to say and there is time to show the new things you bought at IKEA. (Oven gloves, very nice ones as
I accidently put fire to the old ones. I’m not kidding. We have a gas hob and all our pots have metal handles and I was taking a pot of the stove and didn’t realise my oven glove was on fire until the fire alarm went. One problem with having a very high pain threshold is that you don’t really feel when your hands are on fire)
Other things that needs to be pre-planned is birthday cards. I’ve never been good at sending cards or I have never been good at sending cards on time.
However in London I would always blame it on the Royal Mail. Here however the Australia post is a very efficient postal company so the fact that things are never delivered on time is that I most likely post the card on the birthday or a couple of days later.
So happy Birthday Mum, the reason your card is late is that I didn’t post it until today. I’m very sorry about that. I will get better.
Better and stronger than ever before
Sunday, 11 October 2009
TV
I've not been watching a lot of telly on time here, or I watch a lot of TV. But I tend to record it and then watch it later so that I don't have to watch the add.
But tonight I'm watching a cooking show in real time, Rick Stein is travelling around sicilly and is cooking, and I'm getting really hungry and start to dream about my friends S cooking. She cooks wonderfull Sicillian food and the best pasta I have ever had anywhere...I really love Sicilly. I think it's probably one of my favourite places to go on an eating holiday, even the bread tastes beautifull.
So What i've decided is to try to find some good pasta dishes and work hard on finding a place that sells good parmesan cheese. I've not found any good parmesan yet. I think I will have to try a cheese delicatessen or something. One would assume one would be able to find really good parmesan cheese in Sydney as there are so many Italian imigrants here. Maybe out at five dock...
I shall have to google it I think..
But tonight I'm watching a cooking show in real time, Rick Stein is travelling around sicilly and is cooking, and I'm getting really hungry and start to dream about my friends S cooking. She cooks wonderfull Sicillian food and the best pasta I have ever had anywhere...I really love Sicilly. I think it's probably one of my favourite places to go on an eating holiday, even the bread tastes beautifull.
So What i've decided is to try to find some good pasta dishes and work hard on finding a place that sells good parmesan cheese. I've not found any good parmesan yet. I think I will have to try a cheese delicatessen or something. One would assume one would be able to find really good parmesan cheese in Sydney as there are so many Italian imigrants here. Maybe out at five dock...
I shall have to google it I think..
Friday, 9 October 2009
Friday night, dance, I like the way you move..
As you know A works very strange hours as. He works from 4 pm at in the afternoon to 5.30 in the morning Australian time. He works from home which is great as otherwise I would never get to see him, but this also means that during the week he is not able to do much at night. No mid week movie dates or going out for dinner or hanging out with people.
During the week this is a problem as one very rarely actually goes on mid week movie dates or dinner or hangs out with people, the only day that it is a bit sad is Fridays. Friday nights are not his night to go out. Which is unfair as everyone should be allowed out on Fridays. What is the point of Fridays if you can’t go out and do something fun and exciting?
I feel sad for him as if he was going to go out for a drink after work he would have to find someone who is up for it at 6 am and the people still out at 6 am are not normally in a state that makes them good entertainment and it would really screw up our swimming at 8 am on Saturdays.
Everyone who has watched “Almanackan” knows that sitting in a boat in water after having had a few drinks means you will wear very strange stripy clothing and fall over in the water and totally forget how to swim. So no drinking for him at 6 am, I don’t think they allow boats in our local pool you see and he is a very good swimmer however he is quite partial to stripy clothing.
During the week this is a problem as one very rarely actually goes on mid week movie dates or dinner or hangs out with people, the only day that it is a bit sad is Fridays. Friday nights are not his night to go out. Which is unfair as everyone should be allowed out on Fridays. What is the point of Fridays if you can’t go out and do something fun and exciting?
I feel sad for him as if he was going to go out for a drink after work he would have to find someone who is up for it at 6 am and the people still out at 6 am are not normally in a state that makes them good entertainment and it would really screw up our swimming at 8 am on Saturdays.
Everyone who has watched “Almanackan” knows that sitting in a boat in water after having had a few drinks means you will wear very strange stripy clothing and fall over in the water and totally forget how to swim. So no drinking for him at 6 am, I don’t think they allow boats in our local pool you see and he is a very good swimmer however he is quite partial to stripy clothing.
Thursday, 8 October 2009
Issues
I have issues with chewing gum. I do not like the smell or taste of chewing gum. I do not like the way people look when they chew it. If you want to work that hard to look like a cow chewing their cud why not just buy a cow hide and walk on all fours. Well it’s either cow or surly teenager. None of those looks really work for you if one has passed 17.
The biggest issue however is the smell. Why can’t they make chewing gum that doesn’t smell like an off brand of toothpaste? And people chew it to make their breath less stinky, why not floss every night and keep a tooth brush at work..
That is my very important issue for the day...
The biggest issue however is the smell. Why can’t they make chewing gum that doesn’t smell like an off brand of toothpaste? And people chew it to make their breath less stinky, why not floss every night and keep a tooth brush at work..
That is my very important issue for the day...
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
A friend of mine asked me to describe her ....
How do you describe someone that you love and miss without sounding cheesy and stupid? How do explain in a few sentences how much a person means to you and how much happiness they have brought to your life. How they saved you from being a needy girlfriend watching too much basketball from the sideline and instead took you to the movies, I mean I did have to stalk her in the beginning to make her do that but still.
It’s hard. It’s hard to say why someone is so special. With family it’s easier, She is my sister I love her. That is easy. As with the word sister come a direct connection whether you like or not. Actually if it is a sister you can not like her for a bit and still Love her. I think that is how my older sister and I spent our teenage years. In-between fist fighting. I Like and Love all my sisters. They are such fab role models for how to live your life authenticly.
But friends it’s harder. How do you tell them they are fantastic when you are not drunk by the bar drooling “ I love you, you are my best friend hick”.....We are not Americans, hence the Love word comes harder. It’s also hard to describe why person is so fantastic. It’s like when people have asked me why I love A and all I’ve come up with is “he accepts that I’m like I am and he makes me calm”. It does not sound like much of an explanation of love or caring or give any indication how much he has meant to my life.
I think I will try to get better at the explanations why I like people. I know I like to hear why people like me. I’m sure I’m not the only one. So everyone, expect really soppy birthday cards in the coming year.
It’s hard. It’s hard to say why someone is so special. With family it’s easier, She is my sister I love her. That is easy. As with the word sister come a direct connection whether you like or not. Actually if it is a sister you can not like her for a bit and still Love her. I think that is how my older sister and I spent our teenage years. In-between fist fighting. I Like and Love all my sisters. They are such fab role models for how to live your life authenticly.
But friends it’s harder. How do you tell them they are fantastic when you are not drunk by the bar drooling “ I love you, you are my best friend hick”.....We are not Americans, hence the Love word comes harder. It’s also hard to describe why person is so fantastic. It’s like when people have asked me why I love A and all I’ve come up with is “he accepts that I’m like I am and he makes me calm”. It does not sound like much of an explanation of love or caring or give any indication how much he has meant to my life.
I think I will try to get better at the explanations why I like people. I know I like to hear why people like me. I’m sure I’m not the only one. So everyone, expect really soppy birthday cards in the coming year.
Monday, 5 October 2009
Long weekend - bad weather
We have had a long weekend here with bad weather. Weather that allows you to be inside and faff about. Which I have. I have been quite productive actually as you can see above
They are 4 pendants and one pair of earings. None of them are finished, they are still in the works. They need to be polished and the stones and pearls need to be set. No rings. I have not made a ring in a while. I love making rings. Maybe I should make some more rings.
Other than that we haven't done that much this weekend, we have been for dinner and had people for dinner. We have played some serious rounds of pit (a card game) that turned very competitive. Some people drew blood.
I have also been looking for a real stone setting course and I found one but it's on the other side of Sydney and I can't drive and it's during the week. So I don't really know how to fit it in. But i'm gonna see how I can do it, cause I really miss my jewellery course in London.
I just tried calling my brother who has a birtday today, but no answer. I will try again later. But if I can get a hold of him. Happy B'day BG :-)
Also I forgot to mention my readers in Pensylvania..Hello..Nice to hear from you, hope to see you. Lots of Love
Friday, 2 October 2009
Hair
More hair..here is a picture I took all myself of myself and my new hair. It's very short and very blonde...
Goooooooooo Roxette...
Come on join the joyride....be the joyride
International Excitement for me
I was checking my web stats. I don’t often do that; maybe once a month I go and check to see what is happening and how many visits I’ve had during the month.
The most fun part for me is to look at the geographic location where the visitors come from, there are few areas which have higher visitors number which is to be expected as I know my family in Sweden and Australia reads my blog. But the more unexpected once that I see is so much fun for me. There are people who have come to my blog from places I’ve never been. I have never been to Jaipur in India or Poznan in Poland or Massachusett in the States so it’s really funny that that they have made it here.
So Hello Poznan, Jaipur, Hong Kong, Singapore and Massachusett. Great to see you, I hope you come back.
And Hello Sweden, UK, US and Australia I love you all very much.
The most fun part for me is to look at the geographic location where the visitors come from, there are few areas which have higher visitors number which is to be expected as I know my family in Sweden and Australia reads my blog. But the more unexpected once that I see is so much fun for me. There are people who have come to my blog from places I’ve never been. I have never been to Jaipur in India or Poznan in Poland or Massachusett in the States so it’s really funny that that they have made it here.
So Hello Poznan, Jaipur, Hong Kong, Singapore and Massachusett. Great to see you, I hope you come back.
And Hello Sweden, UK, US and Australia I love you all very much.
Thing that never change no matter where you go
It is a long weekend here in Sydney. This Monday we have the day off.
The past week the weather has been fantastic. Yesterday it was hot, 32 degrees and sunny. This weekend and Monday it is going to be 20 degrees and rain.
Sun during the workweek and rain during the weekends, some things never change.
The past week the weather has been fantastic. Yesterday it was hot, 32 degrees and sunny. This weekend and Monday it is going to be 20 degrees and rain.
Sun during the workweek and rain during the weekends, some things never change.
Thursday, 1 October 2009
Hair
Hair is very important. I think hair is probably more important factor to how I feel about me then a lot of other things, good hair and no red marks on my face and I'm happy.
I have been to the hairdresser, the hairdressers here ply you with masses of wine and take forever doing things. That means that by the time they get around to cutting you hair you are already half drunk and would accept any cut they where willing to give you. My cut is now very very much shorter then I thought of planned when I went there, and the hair is much blonder. But I like it. And I also liked the very funny ginger man with the crazy hairy dogs that cut it.I think sometimes the experience is probably as important as the result.
Now I have very short very blond hair. Hair very similar to that that my sister used to have until she dyed it dark the other day. We also both have tight brigth red short jackets. Very suspicious.
I have been to the hairdresser, the hairdressers here ply you with masses of wine and take forever doing things. That means that by the time they get around to cutting you hair you are already half drunk and would accept any cut they where willing to give you. My cut is now very very much shorter then I thought of planned when I went there, and the hair is much blonder. But I like it. And I also liked the very funny ginger man with the crazy hairy dogs that cut it.I think sometimes the experience is probably as important as the result.
Now I have very short very blond hair. Hair very similar to that that my sister used to have until she dyed it dark the other day. We also both have tight brigth red short jackets. Very suspicious.
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
What do you want out of life..
my sister asked me quite fairly and I am unable to answer. I tend to get drawn in different directions on this one, one way I want to be a super hot super bissi business person who buys all Christmas presents at the airport cause they are so busy and international and jet setting and all that.
The other me wants to be all French and dark and live on black coffee and cigarettes, the third would want to be a yoga instructor who is all healthy and eat predominantly green things, fourth but not least I would like to have an easy life...not that my life is hard as such, just an even easier one..One where my brain would shut up...Sometimes I want to stay at home and make cupcakes, other days I think I wouldn't mind being an underground miner or a therapist, or perhaps an ear doctor cause I really like ears.
But most of all I want my brain to shut up and just go along with it
The other me wants to be all French and dark and live on black coffee and cigarettes, the third would want to be a yoga instructor who is all healthy and eat predominantly green things, fourth but not least I would like to have an easy life...not that my life is hard as such, just an even easier one..One where my brain would shut up...Sometimes I want to stay at home and make cupcakes, other days I think I wouldn't mind being an underground miner or a therapist, or perhaps an ear doctor cause I really like ears.
But most of all I want my brain to shut up and just go along with it
Saturday, 26 September 2009
Dance the dance
I was out last night on my first girl’s night out in Sydney. A girl that I know through a friend in London invited me out with her girlfriends for a girly night out. It was really nice, it was great to see that girl group going out procedures are the same no matter where you are in the world…
It starts with consumption of large amounts of wine/champagne, comments on fab outfits and then once the wine has taken effect talk about boys. It’s something I have missed as many other events I have attended here has been more a case of consuming reasonable amount of wine and then hours of conversations about children’s faeces.
During the night I got to dance in a fancy looking club with the hundreds of beautiful people standing around looking beautiful not interaction with others. It seems that most of the male population in Kings Cross do a huge amount of push ups and then wear their shirt open to half their chest to show the results of the push ups. I am not complaining at all, I merely commenting. This place was full to the brim with really attractive men and women, I felt very short, quite ugly and badly dressed; but that was ok. Because I was dancing, so when I’m dancing I don’t think about that kind of thing so much.
But I do think next time when I go out, I don’t need to bring an extra scarf and cardigan in case I get cold, you know, because I’m not really 70 years old yet, even thought I seem to behave like it. Now I’m going to get myself a nice cup of tea before I go to Sydney bead and gem show.
It starts with consumption of large amounts of wine/champagne, comments on fab outfits and then once the wine has taken effect talk about boys. It’s something I have missed as many other events I have attended here has been more a case of consuming reasonable amount of wine and then hours of conversations about children’s faeces.
During the night I got to dance in a fancy looking club with the hundreds of beautiful people standing around looking beautiful not interaction with others. It seems that most of the male population in Kings Cross do a huge amount of push ups and then wear their shirt open to half their chest to show the results of the push ups. I am not complaining at all, I merely commenting. This place was full to the brim with really attractive men and women, I felt very short, quite ugly and badly dressed; but that was ok. Because I was dancing, so when I’m dancing I don’t think about that kind of thing so much.
But I do think next time when I go out, I don’t need to bring an extra scarf and cardigan in case I get cold, you know, because I’m not really 70 years old yet, even thought I seem to behave like it. Now I’m going to get myself a nice cup of tea before I go to Sydney bead and gem show.
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
More dust
My friend John asked me if I had taken the photos that I put up earlier today, and I didn't.
But these ones I did take, I took them at about 7.15 this morgning from my balcony.
The dust has cleared now, but it's going to be windy in the coming days. So we'll see, we live in interesting times as they say.
Dust
Sydney is enveloped in a red dust storm today, It looks like a scene from Blade runner outside. The skye was bright red when I woke up. I couldn't really tell what was wrong. I have never seen such a thing before. The above picture is of the harbour bridge and as you can see, you can't see it
This second picture is of bondi beach, and as you can see, you can't see any of that either.
The weather here truly is a bit more extreme then what i'm used to.
Monday, 21 September 2009
Wisdom and all that..
My younger sister has a blog as well, which is great for me because that means I can keep updated on her life without too much of an effort. You realise that when you live in a different time zone that keeping in touch takes effort and planning. And normally results in home-sickness and sadness. At the same time that it is to talk to family and friends it’s also really hard spending Saturday day and Sunday night missing them and wishing that you would be able to build one of them machines that allows you to beamed to different places. (How cool would that be, “beam me up Scottie, I feel like going to the Caribbean for lunch today)
When I read my sisters blog I realise that so much that stresses her out and that makes her nervous are the same thing that stresses me out and makes me nervous. And we both rely heavily on our older sister to get perspective on our freak outs.
Obviously this stresses me out . One would think that I, as I am 8 years or so older should be at least 8 years wiser. But that is not the case at all, whereas my older sister seems to be far wiser then the 1.5 years that she is older than me. So that leads me to believe that wisdom comes not from years but experiences and responsibility taken.
I have very few actual responsibilities, I’m rather uncomfortable around real responsibilities, actually they make me so uncomfortable I don’t even like to have my name on the utility bills cause that means it’s my responsibility to pay it. I do pay it, I just don’t want to be in charge of making sure it’s paid.
I think maybe I need to add some responsibilities to my to-do list. Since the double set of wisdom teeth that I have been given doesn’t really seem to do the trick in regards to wisdom.
When I read my sisters blog I realise that so much that stresses her out and that makes her nervous are the same thing that stresses me out and makes me nervous. And we both rely heavily on our older sister to get perspective on our freak outs.
Obviously this stresses me out . One would think that I, as I am 8 years or so older should be at least 8 years wiser. But that is not the case at all, whereas my older sister seems to be far wiser then the 1.5 years that she is older than me. So that leads me to believe that wisdom comes not from years but experiences and responsibility taken.
I have very few actual responsibilities, I’m rather uncomfortable around real responsibilities, actually they make me so uncomfortable I don’t even like to have my name on the utility bills cause that means it’s my responsibility to pay it. I do pay it, I just don’t want to be in charge of making sure it’s paid.
I think maybe I need to add some responsibilities to my to-do list. Since the double set of wisdom teeth that I have been given doesn’t really seem to do the trick in regards to wisdom.
Friday, 18 September 2009
Things
I have not made a lot of things lately, I lost the making spark if you like since the last few weeks have been a bit overwhelming. I'm getting back on the horse by making some earings for a birthday present. Everytime I make earings I realise why I don't make earings very often, they are soo fiddly and annoying.
My brain is quite blank today, I've used up all my energy at work. So nothing fun in my head today, except my eternal question keeps rising to mind..
If dogs ruled the world, would they have toilet paper with tiny people printed on them...
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
KGB
I've caught the cold of a lifetime that has quickly turned into a painfull earache and a really loud cough.
I have been sick for over a week and it wont go away, I think it's because I've been stressing out and freaking out about work. One of the reasons we decided to move there was so I would not do that, that I would get a better work life balance, but looking at the hours I did last week and that my work mates do that hasn't really happened.
My sister said something very clever on Sunday, she often says very clever things. She said, well maybe It's a personality trait. Maybe moving across the world wont solve the fact that you stress out over work to level where you get really weird illnesses like shingles and over-active thyroids. Which is true, very true.
So I've decided, I will have to stop that. I will work as hard as I can, I will go home in time to have a life after work. I will do my best, and if that is not good enough, well, they are not KGB. They can not kill me, the worst that can happen is that they ask me to leave..
So my new mantra is, They are not KGB, they can not kill me...
Say it with me now, they are not KGB, they can not kill me..
I have been sick for over a week and it wont go away, I think it's because I've been stressing out and freaking out about work. One of the reasons we decided to move there was so I would not do that, that I would get a better work life balance, but looking at the hours I did last week and that my work mates do that hasn't really happened.
My sister said something very clever on Sunday, she often says very clever things. She said, well maybe It's a personality trait. Maybe moving across the world wont solve the fact that you stress out over work to level where you get really weird illnesses like shingles and over-active thyroids. Which is true, very true.
So I've decided, I will have to stop that. I will work as hard as I can, I will go home in time to have a life after work. I will do my best, and if that is not good enough, well, they are not KGB. They can not kill me, the worst that can happen is that they ask me to leave..
So my new mantra is, They are not KGB, they can not kill me...
Say it with me now, they are not KGB, they can not kill me..
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
Ring outlines
I've been working on a few designs of different rings lately and I've been trying to establish which is the best "Look". What I'm talking about is the location of the setting i.e. The circle of metal that is holding the stone
In the above picture you see four different rings. From the Left it starts with
Ring 1 = The setting is set into the band.
Ring 2 = The band is cut open and the setting is soldered high between the two ends, if you look carefully you can see the culet (bottom of the stone) between the ends of the band.
Ring 3 = The setting is on top of the band, and small cut under the stone to make room for the culet (the bottom point of the stone)
Ring 4 = This is the crazy overlapping ring that I love, where the setting is so high and way above the band.
So wich one do you like the most...and why??
Under here are some more rings I've worked on on Friday
Monday, 7 September 2009
Ben Folds ringing it in
On sunday night A and I went to see Ben Folds in the Sydney Operahouse; and wow it's such an amazing building. When you stand close to it it looks scaly, almost like snake.
The moon was bright yellow and shining on the scaly roof so wished I would have had a camera, other then my mobile phone camera which is truly rubbish as you can tell from the above picture.
The above picture is a forbidden picture of Mr Folds himself on stage. He was playing the whole concert on request. Before the concert started everyone could write on slip of paper what song they wanted to hear and then he would sing it. It was great, sometimes he forgot the lyrics but that was ok. And he made up at least 3 songs on the spot that where really funny. And he sang the Bitches aint shit, which was very to funny to hear in such a adult place like the operahouse.
The bitches aint shit is the a cover of a Dr Dre song, and it's really funny cause he has taken this quite literal hip hop song, and put beautifull beautifull music to it, such that for once you listen to the lyrics and realise how moronic it is.
Now during the concert that we saw last night, it was only Ben Folds and a big piano and that was it. So none of that extra stuff and people.
You can really tell it's a Dane that has designed the operahouse, it's all birch veener and concrete in ondulating shapes and sharp angles on the inside. It's like a very very upmarket IKEA.
Other than that I'm got a cold of life time, I feel like death warmed up. So now I'm gonna eat some soup and complain to A about how ill I am so he get's me some ice cream.
Friday, 4 September 2009
Hunkering down for winter
It’s the first week of spring and it has been getting cooler this week. But it’s still the week of spring. They know those things here as they have official dates for such things. The 1 of September is the first day of spring.
There spring fashion is the shops, they have a big flower exhibition at David Jones and to be honest it’s not that cold so I guess I could feel like spring.
My problem is, my brain and body is hardwired for September to be a pre-autumn feeling. It’s the time of the year when you can still wear your skirt out but you should bring a jacket and scarf if you are going to be out late.
This time of the year I start dreaming about casseroles and warm sweaters and start planning for Christmas. What I shall buy for people, what is my present wrapping theme, anything interesting to bake, yes I am quite obsessive about Christmas.
So life has thrown me a curve ball here a little bit, in my head I know I should prep for summer, start looking for salad recipes and think about what to wear to work when it’s 35 degrees outside. I’ve never done that before. But I don’t. I start dreaming about wearing black roll neck sweaters and tweed trousers and wether my brown boots could survive another season.
I have always had really bad winter moods; I get really moody and don’t want to leave my house. Normally I am able to stave off the worst in the autumn as I obsessively plan for Christmas and drown myself in sparkly glitter and wrapping paper, so the real winter blues doesn’t normally hit fully until late January/February.
Now I realise that this is in one part actually not feeling well when there is a lot of darkness around and one part the expectation that this will happen. Subconsciously I’m preparing for this. I’m collecting books and cheerful things that I can do to feel better in January. Even thought I know in my mind that I might not feel bad in January cause then it won’t be less than 5 hours of daylight every day. So maybe all the years I spent trying to learn to deal with my really bad winter moods I’ve also created a cradle for it, that expect it to happen, and that I accept that it is going to happen and maybe even in some strange little way look forward to a couple of months every year where my expectations of myself are lower.
It’s not that I think I make the dark feelings up, or that they are pretend, during that part of the year, as the very low level of me at that time of the years is quite severe, I just wonder sometime. What would have happened if I would have been born somewhere else, would the moods still be there, just relating to something different?
There spring fashion is the shops, they have a big flower exhibition at David Jones and to be honest it’s not that cold so I guess I could feel like spring.
My problem is, my brain and body is hardwired for September to be a pre-autumn feeling. It’s the time of the year when you can still wear your skirt out but you should bring a jacket and scarf if you are going to be out late.
This time of the year I start dreaming about casseroles and warm sweaters and start planning for Christmas. What I shall buy for people, what is my present wrapping theme, anything interesting to bake, yes I am quite obsessive about Christmas.
So life has thrown me a curve ball here a little bit, in my head I know I should prep for summer, start looking for salad recipes and think about what to wear to work when it’s 35 degrees outside. I’ve never done that before. But I don’t. I start dreaming about wearing black roll neck sweaters and tweed trousers and wether my brown boots could survive another season.
I have always had really bad winter moods; I get really moody and don’t want to leave my house. Normally I am able to stave off the worst in the autumn as I obsessively plan for Christmas and drown myself in sparkly glitter and wrapping paper, so the real winter blues doesn’t normally hit fully until late January/February.
Now I realise that this is in one part actually not feeling well when there is a lot of darkness around and one part the expectation that this will happen. Subconsciously I’m preparing for this. I’m collecting books and cheerful things that I can do to feel better in January. Even thought I know in my mind that I might not feel bad in January cause then it won’t be less than 5 hours of daylight every day. So maybe all the years I spent trying to learn to deal with my really bad winter moods I’ve also created a cradle for it, that expect it to happen, and that I accept that it is going to happen and maybe even in some strange little way look forward to a couple of months every year where my expectations of myself are lower.
It’s not that I think I make the dark feelings up, or that they are pretend, during that part of the year, as the very low level of me at that time of the years is quite severe, I just wonder sometime. What would have happened if I would have been born somewhere else, would the moods still be there, just relating to something different?
Thursday, 3 September 2009
funny
There are many funny things that I don't understand about working life.
For example, I woke up at 5, flew to Melbourne, sat in 3 meetings solely based on the fact that people shall know what I look like when I speak with them on the phone. Then I flew back to Sydney. And I'm earlier then if I would have been to the office. It's funny I think. And it's not programing so I am a very happy bunny.
Now i'm very tired, that is also funny, I have not done any "active" work, but I am exhausted, eventhought it's really early. So tired that in my tired mind I can justify a Thai Take away and a magnum ice cream. And then later another whinge about the unexplainable weight gain.
For example, I woke up at 5, flew to Melbourne, sat in 3 meetings solely based on the fact that people shall know what I look like when I speak with them on the phone. Then I flew back to Sydney. And I'm earlier then if I would have been to the office. It's funny I think. And it's not programing so I am a very happy bunny.
Now i'm very tired, that is also funny, I have not done any "active" work, but I am exhausted, eventhought it's really early. So tired that in my tired mind I can justify a Thai Take away and a magnum ice cream. And then later another whinge about the unexplainable weight gain.
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
Walking slowly by ...then BAM..
I was sitting at my desk today, working away as you do, when a 2 cm cockroach walked past. I’m terrified of most bugs; cockroaches make me feel specifically sick. So of course I reacted with a loud yelp, took of my shoe and beat it to death. It seemed like a good solution.
The loud yelp however made people ask what had happened so I told them about the giant cockroach at my desk. So they came over to look. They deemed it so small it was totally insignificant.
Now I don’t think that is right. I think cockroaches of any size warrants a full on freak out. Then they tell me about the moths. Apparently in the spring, (first official day of Spring today) a huge migration of bogon moths happens in Sydney and it goes for about a month. As they are moths and a bit stupid they tend to fly into the buildings, in the lifts, in the toilets and all over the offices. Apparently last year you could not see anything in the toilets cause all these moths had flown in under the lamp cover and died. Apparently the crazy moths attack you when you go to the toilet.
This is due to start in the coming weeks. I will keep you all updated on any moth attacks. And I will increase my self defence arsenal with a can of bug spray
Things that makes me angry
There are many things that makes you angry in the world, injustice, abuse, corruption and animals/babies/elderly being treated badly..
These are things to deserve your thoughts and your anger. I have realised I often choose to get angry at things that really is not worth it and that I cannot solve.
For example I get really angry about having to buy toilet paper. It’s the act of having to remember to buy really boring and mundane products that makes me really annoyed. I realise this is a waste of my time and my energy. Everyone has to buy toilet paper, it is nothing to be angry about. More importantly I can’t solve this. Not buy bulk buying or not buying.
So I have to accept this, everyone else seems to have. And that makes me even angrier. I wish there was someone else that could sort this out. Like international sorting out organisation that took care of toilet paper tissues and hand towels for you. You know, they knew when you needed more and then it got delivered. Not like a government organisation or anything cause that would be to bureaucratic and you’d never get your toilet paper on time. And they have lots of other things to do. You know prevent war and sort out social service payments and make sure that when ministers are having affairs it ends up in the media (or maybe that are the media themselves).Anyway, they are busy.
So I see it more like a God, like a divine toilet paper person that would, you know
organise that.
A toilet paper God. A God of toilet paper...maybe he/she also could take care of other things one has to remember as well like washing up liquid and toothpaste.
These are things to deserve your thoughts and your anger. I have realised I often choose to get angry at things that really is not worth it and that I cannot solve.
For example I get really angry about having to buy toilet paper. It’s the act of having to remember to buy really boring and mundane products that makes me really annoyed. I realise this is a waste of my time and my energy. Everyone has to buy toilet paper, it is nothing to be angry about. More importantly I can’t solve this. Not buy bulk buying or not buying.
So I have to accept this, everyone else seems to have. And that makes me even angrier. I wish there was someone else that could sort this out. Like international sorting out organisation that took care of toilet paper tissues and hand towels for you. You know, they knew when you needed more and then it got delivered. Not like a government organisation or anything cause that would be to bureaucratic and you’d never get your toilet paper on time. And they have lots of other things to do. You know prevent war and sort out social service payments and make sure that when ministers are having affairs it ends up in the media (or maybe that are the media themselves).Anyway, they are busy.
So I see it more like a God, like a divine toilet paper person that would, you know
organise that.
A toilet paper God. A God of toilet paper...maybe he/she also could take care of other things one has to remember as well like washing up liquid and toothpaste.
Monday, 31 August 2009
Swivel
We have had a really busy weekend, we went all the way up to the Blue Mountains, to make sure we got real cold. I bought new red canvas shoes from K-mart for 8 dollars cause my feets where freezing.
As I assume you understand the above photo has nothing to do with the Blue Mountains, but I'm so very tired as I've worked untill now (9 pm) preparing for a presentation, so I can't come up with anything clever to say. So instead I'm showing a ring I made for A:s niece...
The silver bead swivvels...
Now, project runway, tea, chocolate and a sleep
Thursday, 27 August 2009
Be Square
Or rectagular..
Setting square or rectagular stones are far more complicated then setting round ones. When you sett a round stone, if the stone is small enough you only need to have one drill called a burr shaped either like a ball or like a conical shape to drill out the setting for the stone. If the stone is bigger, then you have to move the drill around the setting for the stone. But you can still use the drill (the one called a burr).
When you set square or rectagular stones, or any irregular shape like a pear drop, triangle, trillion or marquis shaped stone, you need to really work it. You basicly have to remove the inside of the setting at 45 degree angle using a hand saw or a file. This takes time and effort and results in saw cuts in your fingers...
But for some reason the result is always worth the work. Don't you think :-)..
This is the latest ring I set tonight. It's sterling silver with a Sky Blue bezel set Topaz.The stone is 8x6 mm big, and the ring is a size 7 1/4 (US), O1/2 (UK), 17.5(SWE). For any of my sisters this means it is way way to big.
With a little help from my friends..
When I lived in London Saturday night during the autumn what a holy night, it would almost always be huge amounts of white wine and food with my girls and perhaps a late night outing to a wide variety of diverse drinking locations. But first and foremost it was X-factor. It was X-factor with wine and food and social interaction. The night would start civil and then we would quickly escalate to a what was he/she/the band thinking, that is a horrible song, they can’t sing anyway, what are they wearing, are they bling...Ohhh I love this one, it’s my favourite song, oh and they are killing it.
Now X-factor is going strong again this autumn and I’m not there, I would assume that the Saturday nights with wine,food and X-factor is not that different.
Here they have Australian Idol instead. It’s on a Sunday, which is a bad night for a food, wine and bad mouthing the contestant session. And it’s no fun to be mean about people that can’t hear you if you are on your own, and A really doesn’t have the right mean streak to get real nasty.
I must say so far in this year’s Australian Idol the level of skill of the
contestants this year it’s rather abysmal. I’ve seen it before where the Australian contestants have shat all over the UK version. I thought I would be all over for the UK version of the competition...
Then I saw this guy.
The actual singing starts at about 1 min 35 sek. Well worth the effort.
Now X-factor is going strong again this autumn and I’m not there, I would assume that the Saturday nights with wine,food and X-factor is not that different.
Here they have Australian Idol instead. It’s on a Sunday, which is a bad night for a food, wine and bad mouthing the contestant session. And it’s no fun to be mean about people that can’t hear you if you are on your own, and A really doesn’t have the right mean streak to get real nasty.
I must say so far in this year’s Australian Idol the level of skill of the
contestants this year it’s rather abysmal. I’ve seen it before where the Australian contestants have shat all over the UK version. I thought I would be all over for the UK version of the competition...
Then I saw this guy.
The actual singing starts at about 1 min 35 sek. Well worth the effort.
Wednesday, 26 August 2009
Bizzi Lizzie
My sister asked in her blog yesterday if it’s better to have a job one likes but aren’t busy at and therefore bored or one that is not as likable but keeps you very busy.
I would say one that you like but aren’t busy at. This is because I believe that we put too much value in being busy. I’m very bad at not being busy; I get very little enjoyment in doing nothing. I do not have the attention span for chilling out. But my kind of being busy just means I am not good at sitting in the sun with nothing to do, I prefer to bring a book or plank to put nails in. I’m not very good at watching TV without at least doing something with my hands, eating, embroidering or just filling away at my nails. So that I guess is keeping busy.
At the same time I hate it when other people are continually stressing how busy they are. If I meet up with a friend and they tell me how busy they are, what is my reaction suppose to be. Am I supposed to be grateful that they took 15 minutes out of their schedule to have a coffee with me? I do not want to have friendships or relationships with people to whom I am suppose to be grateful for deigning to spend time with me.
Our culture is so based on keeping busy, our value as individuals is so linked to how busy we. I guess this is because it’s a metric of our popularity, a faulty metric but a metric all the same and humans like to quantify things. Hence the measuring of your worth as person in how many people wants to hang out with you.
The main failure of this metric is that it’s fully possible to spend most of your time with people who you don’t like and that do not like you. I reckon that is common if your jobs is being an account manager or in a high level sales role.
It’s a little like having 700 friends on Facebook and 690 of them are people who bullied you in high school. Why would you do that? Well people do that so that they have a high number of friends on Facebook and therefore look popular.
To summarize. It’s better to like your job but not be busy at it, because being busy is not a measure in how important you are, or how important your work is. If you get bored cause you do not have so much to do, go on an online language course in Mandarin. That will keep you occupied.
I would say one that you like but aren’t busy at. This is because I believe that we put too much value in being busy. I’m very bad at not being busy; I get very little enjoyment in doing nothing. I do not have the attention span for chilling out. But my kind of being busy just means I am not good at sitting in the sun with nothing to do, I prefer to bring a book or plank to put nails in. I’m not very good at watching TV without at least doing something with my hands, eating, embroidering or just filling away at my nails. So that I guess is keeping busy.
At the same time I hate it when other people are continually stressing how busy they are. If I meet up with a friend and they tell me how busy they are, what is my reaction suppose to be. Am I supposed to be grateful that they took 15 minutes out of their schedule to have a coffee with me? I do not want to have friendships or relationships with people to whom I am suppose to be grateful for deigning to spend time with me.
Our culture is so based on keeping busy, our value as individuals is so linked to how busy we. I guess this is because it’s a metric of our popularity, a faulty metric but a metric all the same and humans like to quantify things. Hence the measuring of your worth as person in how many people wants to hang out with you.
The main failure of this metric is that it’s fully possible to spend most of your time with people who you don’t like and that do not like you. I reckon that is common if your jobs is being an account manager or in a high level sales role.
It’s a little like having 700 friends on Facebook and 690 of them are people who bullied you in high school. Why would you do that? Well people do that so that they have a high number of friends on Facebook and therefore look popular.
To summarize. It’s better to like your job but not be busy at it, because being busy is not a measure in how important you are, or how important your work is. If you get bored cause you do not have so much to do, go on an online language course in Mandarin. That will keep you occupied.
Tuesday, 25 August 2009
Happy B'day at last
I finaly finished my sisters birthday rings. As she and all my other sisters (3 in total) have the smallest fingers and she didn't really specify what size she was. Eventhought I've asked a houndred (well 3) times.
So I made one that is slightly to big for my pinky finger and one that is slightly to small for my pinky finger. I know her size is somewhere in between there.
I also added the other little heart ring for my niece.
The stones are 3 mm rhodolite garnets with a strong dark pink/red/purple colour.
Rhodolite garnets are one of my favourite coloured stones, they are not nasty barbie pink like some pink topaz and not to dark red like some almandine garnets. They are strong and hard to scratch and they are quite reasonable priced. So all in all, a really good gemstone
So happy Birthday sister K, it's just a 2.5 months late. I'll post them tommorow.
Now I'm gonna watch project runway, drink tea, eat chocolate and then complain about my unexplained weight gain.
Rimma Simma Dimma
Me and A went swimming on Saturday morning as we do, in Pool opposite our house. It’s a good but over chlorinated pool.
As I was coming to my last lap in my pyramid of laps A decided he was going to swim it next to me. Now, at this point I have been swimming 1200 meters and these are my last 50, and he has been resting for 5 minutes or so as he is finished with his paltry 800 meters. At this point I am tired and my shoulders are hurting as I am unable to use my legs for swimming. At this point my lungs are feeling like they are filled with metal tasting mush.
So A is swimming next to me. As I come up from my last 50 meters he says
-“It’s so strange, when I swim in my normal pace I feel like I am swimming really fast, but when I swim in your pace it feels like I’m hardly moving forward at all!”
-“hu!”
It’s like when my older sister and I and our friend Susila was talking English before we had actually learned any English. It goes something like this.
-Rudshi, kudshi, rady bady, Baby, Love, Yeah, Baby Love, Ice Cream.
Anyway, we were talking away in our pretend English as you do when you are 7 years old and think that English is the height of sophistication. My sister then says in a very determined voice (my sister was a very determined child)
-“Maria, When I speak English it sounds like English, when Susila speaks English it sounds French, but when you speak it sounds like Finnish”
Which we all know is the height of insults. Sounding Finnish. If you are a 7 year old girl in Sweden trying to speak English, sounding Finnish, really is the failure of everything. As all Swedish school children know, Finnish is the ugliest language in the world. ( I’m sure as an adult that is a very unfair statement and as an adult all I can actually say in Finnish is Moi Mukulat, which is loosely translated as Hi Kids)
I have since found out that when I speak English I sound South African and when I speak the little Italian I remember I actually sound Finnish .
But back to the Swimming...
Just to let you know Matey Mate.
At least I go swimming. Moving forward or no moving forward.
Edit Post: 13.30: I would like to state for the record that A is the person who has spent a huge amount of time teaching me how to swim. So this is not meant to make him sounds like a nasty person. Just to show that I'm not the only one in my little house that has a competitive streak, he pointed that out that he was refering to how fast he swims, as I swim fast...and then He would swim super duper fast. This is not true. I don't swim that fast.
As I was coming to my last lap in my pyramid of laps A decided he was going to swim it next to me. Now, at this point I have been swimming 1200 meters and these are my last 50, and he has been resting for 5 minutes or so as he is finished with his paltry 800 meters. At this point I am tired and my shoulders are hurting as I am unable to use my legs for swimming. At this point my lungs are feeling like they are filled with metal tasting mush.
So A is swimming next to me. As I come up from my last 50 meters he says
-“It’s so strange, when I swim in my normal pace I feel like I am swimming really fast, but when I swim in your pace it feels like I’m hardly moving forward at all!”
-“hu!”
It’s like when my older sister and I and our friend Susila was talking English before we had actually learned any English. It goes something like this.
-Rudshi, kudshi, rady bady, Baby, Love, Yeah, Baby Love, Ice Cream.
Anyway, we were talking away in our pretend English as you do when you are 7 years old and think that English is the height of sophistication. My sister then says in a very determined voice (my sister was a very determined child)
-“Maria, When I speak English it sounds like English, when Susila speaks English it sounds French, but when you speak it sounds like Finnish”
Which we all know is the height of insults. Sounding Finnish. If you are a 7 year old girl in Sweden trying to speak English, sounding Finnish, really is the failure of everything. As all Swedish school children know, Finnish is the ugliest language in the world. ( I’m sure as an adult that is a very unfair statement and as an adult all I can actually say in Finnish is Moi Mukulat, which is loosely translated as Hi Kids)
I have since found out that when I speak English I sound South African and when I speak the little Italian I remember I actually sound Finnish .
But back to the Swimming...
Just to let you know Matey Mate.
At least I go swimming. Moving forward or no moving forward.
Edit Post: 13.30: I would like to state for the record that A is the person who has spent a huge amount of time teaching me how to swim. So this is not meant to make him sounds like a nasty person. Just to show that I'm not the only one in my little house that has a competitive streak, he pointed that out that he was refering to how fast he swims, as I swim fast...and then He would swim super duper fast. This is not true. I don't swim that fast.
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