What the Birds See

Improving Life

2009-03-21T01:36:33Z

I've been thinking about ways to improve my life of late and it made me think of this list. It's been sitting in my bookmarks since last September but I thought if I start to cross things off it I would get more proactive. The things that I'm heading towards having.

Things to have before 30:
1. Clothes that fit the size she is now, not the size she was five years ago
2. A weekly income that covers the rent (or mortgage payment)
~~3. An orgasm.~~
4. Always enough toilet paper
5. A hair stylist she trusts
~~6. A favorite song, porn site, image, movie or fantasy that always gets her in the mood~~
~~7. Health insurance~~
8. A signature drink
9. A healthy relationship with her parents
10. Bras in the correct size
11. Enough alcohol in her home to offer drop-by guests a cocktail
12. An emergency hangover remedy
~~13. A voter registration card~~
14. A wardrobe that includes the perfectly flattering little black dress, a great pair of heels, jeans that make her ass look great, and a cute hat that hides a bad hair day
15. A yearly appointment with her gynecologist
16. The name of reliable movers to give her friends when they ask for help relocating
17. The gumption to ask a man out
18. A group of girlfriends who get it
~~19. A set of tools (and the ability to use them…even if it’s just to hang a piece of art)~~
20. A balanced checkbook
21. No interest in men who just aren’t that into her
22. A vacation to look forward to at least once a year
~~23. A good bullshit detector~~
~~24. The courage to stand up for herself and her beliefs~~
~~25. A favorite sex position~~
~~26. A set of hand towels so guests don’t have dry their hands on her bath towel (gross!)~~
27. Enough self-love to avoid and break off unhealthy friendships and relationships
28. A commitment to exercise
~~29. A retirement fund~~
30. A great vibrator

In the near future I also want to:
- See more live music.
- Learn new recipes.
- Decorate my flat.

I Link Too Much

2008-07-18T06:22:47Z

I see that the new last.fm has gone live and to a less than warm welcome. Personally I really like the new look, especially the library function. My profile looks nice with the visual of the most listened artists in my library. (I know I'm being a bit obnoxious with the links but it comes from a place of love - and vanity). The new look has inspired me to look into some new music so currently I'm downloading a couple of new things, the first - Zero 7 - was recommended to me by Truth when I was telling him about last.fm. He thinks I'll like them so I'm excited. The second came from my last.fm recommendations page. According to last.fm I should like pop artist and DJ, Annie, because I love Dragonette, The Knife, Junior Senior, M.I.A., The Ting Tings and Cut Copy. So we'll see how that goes. At least it will give me something to come back and write about after I've listened.

Other news is that US Project Runway has started again and someone who has my complete admiration has uploaded the first episode to youtube already. So far Shay and I hate the Seattle guy (I've told Shay I won't judge his city on this guy), Blayne. Blayne looks like Gollum fell into a tin of orange paint, he also seems to think that appending the suffix -licious onto words distracts us from the fact that his model looked like she was wearing an old nappie. I also hope not to see much of Suede, he refers to himself in the third person which is unfortunate as his name is Suede. Maybe sharing a name with a fabric makes you some sort of material-whisperer? As I couldn't really remember what his dress looked like I doubt it. Also, his profile picture shows a little bit of hairy belly skin because his "tough guy" stance has hiked up his t-shirt.

I do love that they returned to the scene of PR's very first challenge - remember when Austin Scarlett one with a cute dress made out of corn husks? Austin himself was the guest judge, he really should be on more TV shows. Kelli's dress won and I agree with the judge's choice, she was the most creative with the grocery store materials - especially those hook-and-eye closures made from the spirals of a notebook. I loved the look of Kenley's dress and it looks like we may end up <3ing her.

Important Things

2008-07-16T07:27:57Z

I never confuse arrogance with charisma.

I can spot an anti-cliche no matter how cleverly (or not so) you try to dress it up as originality. It's wank.

I can sit on my couch and cry with a roll of toilet paper in my hand for as long as I want now that I live alone.

I have started to feel sorry for myself.

I realise that I tend to care for other people more than they care for me.

I realise that I don't much care to be around myself anyway.

It's just a bad day.

Shay

2008-07-15T15:32:42Z

I <3 him.

Writer's Block: Commercials: the Best and Worst

2008-05-25T11:27:09Z

I don't usually pay much attention to the writer's block questions but there is an ad that I really love at the moment and I'm glad it's on again. It's a commercial for Quitline or whatever it's called. That service that helps people quit smoking? I love it. I think the idea (a smoker gives a common excuse for not quitting smoking (ie: "My dad smoked all his life and he lived to be 80", "I could be hit by a bus", "I'll quit, maybe next month", "Sorry, I can't quit") and then after each excuse it shows someone suffering from smoking with a line that relates to the excuse (ie: "I'm 40", "I feel like I've been run over by a truck", "They say he's got weeks, not months" and finally a doctor delivering bad news "I'm sorry.")) is really affective because it's something that someone can relate to rather than just a dissection of a smokers lung. No one gets the chance to see their own lungs but I think that people can recognise the excuses given in the commercial as things that they have said themselves, or that friends or family have given. I know I can.

As for ads that I hate... there are too many.

Moved House etc

2008-05-25T11:08:22Z

I haven't updated in a while and although I've been without the internet for the past 5 weeks, I know it's not just that. I've been lazy and I deserve a slap on the wrist.

I am working on a few projects at the moment. Semester 1 is coming to an end so I'm swamped with assignments but enjoying the opportunity to write. Still working for Armidi but feeling guilty about disappearing for 5 weeks without warning. I've been doing some research into short story publishing opportunities and I'm planning to send some stuff to some Aussie literary journals and accumulate a nice collection of rejection letters, you know, so I feel like a real writer. I also have a little magazine project (second life related) in the works that I don't want to say too much about yet.

Oh and I like two guys at the moment.

Hurdle requirement for KWB104

2008-03-09T23:52:50Z

First 200 words of my short story for Creative Writing: The Short Story. Currently untitled.

Peggy does her washing in the small, three-walled room behind the house. The machine whirs into action somewhere between 9.02 and 9.13AM every three days, excepting when that day falls on a Wednesday. She works early on Wednesdays and can't wash her clothes until the afternoon. Every six days she washes her bed linen and every 9 days she spends a little longer by the machine – hand-washing her most delicate items in a white plastic basin balanced on the edge of the trough.

When I sit on my bed my window looks onto the back-yard. And the laundry. I flick ash from my cigarette out the window and watch her broad shoulders move as she swirls something in her basin. When she turns she has slightly androgynous features. I like that but I duck my head back inside my room. I wonder if she saw me; I wonder if she waved. I hear the soft hiss of the hose waking up and smell the sun-warmed chlorine. Today is Thursday so she's tending to the garden.

I had a pot-plant once, a fern. It died. I stub my cigarette out in the empty pot and slide off the bed.

Goals for 2008

2008-02-23T01:05:26Z

1)   Go overseas.
2)   Set and achieve monthly word count goals.
3)   Read at least 20 books
4)   Update journal at least one a week.
5)   Drop 3 dress sizes.
6)   Be involved in SL things unrelated to fashion on regular basis.
7)   Learn 5 new recipes.
8)   Do mixed media collage on large canvas
9)   Redecorate room.
10) Finish ripping all CDs to computer.
11)   Write and mail more letters.
12)   Sort and throw away old broken crap in boxes.
13)   Buy pretty new stationery to compete with Iris.

Reading List

2008-02-17T02:50:55Z

Please excuse my listings, I'm just organising my own mind out a bit.
Key:
Currently Reading
Required For School
Currently Owned
Currently Borrowed
Wanted
~~Read~~

Fashion Babylon by Imogen Edward-Jones & Anonymous
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Carrie by Steven King
Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey
The Children's Bach by Helen Garner
The Periodic Table by Primo Levi
The Tailor of Panama by John Le Carre
The Talking Horse and the Sad Girl and the Village Under the Sea by Mark Haddon
The Trout Opera by Matthew Condon
Welcome to Tangier by Morris Lurie
Surrender by Sonya Harnett
Australian Short Stories #64 by Various
Accordion Crimes by E. Annie Proulx
Penguin Modern Poets 10 - The Mersey Sound by Adrian Henri, Roger McGough & Brian Patten
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
Everything You Need by A.L. Kennedy
That Old Ace in the Hole by E. Annie Proulx
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (Yes I was reading it for the third time but I'm counting it.)

Virtually Topless

2008-02-15T13:48:23Z

I realize I've mostly neglected flickr for a while so I'm returning in my free-time with a new series - Virtually Topless. The series will be made up of 100 topless avatar pictures (I'm hoping that they'll seem tasteful). I've got some ideas for shots already planned out and I'm really excited about this. When the collection is complete I'll get some gallery space in world to display the full collection. While the exhibition is open I'll run a raffle - the prizes will be RL prints of the winners' favourite images from the series and all the proceeds will be donated to breast cancer research.

To-Do List

2008-02-15T04:10:54Z

- Work: Finish shorts
- Work: Finish cami
- LJ: Critiques for writers_slam
- Housekeeping: Remove and wash dishes from bedroom
~~- Self: Shower~~
~~- Self: Eat lunch~~
~~- Housekeeping: Run another genre through MusicBrainz~~
- LJ: Get my arse into gear with my February word goal for project_finish

1065 / 7000 words. 15% done!
New memo by request:
- Misc: Write up your filing system so Shay can understand it.
~~- Misc: Send~~ shay4brains ~~the link to this post when he gets home~~

A Slight Tilt

2008-02-14T10:35:05Z

I'm back from mum's. Feeling ill and tired. I did fiddle with a bit of writing, it could still do with some polishing but it's something. Critique more than welcome.

It is Thursday, I'm visiting my parents’ house. Vince is standing on the wall out front and I am sitting next to him. I'm not tempted to stand like my brother, as far as I'm concerned the wall's too high for that. There is music coming from inside and I’m trying to work out what it is, I think it’s Michael Jackson’s Thriller but a lot of songs sound alike from a distance.
    I mention this to Vince and he makes an apathetic grunt in reply. My mother has the sprinkler on to water the grass and it sprays our backs each time it clicks around in its slow arc. I don’t mind and Vince barely seems to notice at all. The sun is just past its apex and it reflects a thousand times over in the water on my bare arms. I slit my eyes like a cat, I feel good like this – like the world around me is ingenuous after all. I bring my feet up onto the wall and rise, standing beside my brother and staring out across the road into the middle distance.
    “Look, Vince – I’m standing on the wall.”
    “Do you think I have a chance with Heather?”
    Around the corner Mum turns the sprinkler off and we go inside the house.

    The morning of the next day I am at home in my room. I listen to music but don’t dance. The sleeve of my shirt irritates the flesh on my arm and every few minutes I scratch at it.
    Vince comes in, or looks like he’s going to. He leans his long body against the door frame and stares at a smudge on my wall. I wonder if I should initiate the conversation, but don’t.
    “Hey, sis,” he says after a while.
    “Hey, Vince,” he is fidgeting; he taps his foot against the door frame. I can tell he’s trying to look casual.
    “Uh, I just thought I’d tell you that I’m thinking of moving into Heather’s place. You know – as friends. I’m not moving just yet, so you know, you’ll have time to find someone else to fill the room.”
    I open my mouth to say something and he waits. I close my mouth and stay silent, wondering if my bed has one leg shorter than the others because it has a slight tilt. Vince is speaking again.
    “…shouldn’t be too hard to find someone to move in. It’s a great little place and close to the station and shops. Should make a list of those things they told us when we first rented it.”
    I stand up and move to the door, ducking under his arm to get past.
    “There’s a KFC in walking distance, you should probably mention that too. You can put my number in the ad and all. I can talk to the potentials if you like,” he says.
    I take a set of keys off the hook at the door and head outside.
    I’m in his car, driving it away from the house. Something synthetic plays on the stereo and after about half a minute I switch it off and drive in silence. As I leave my street behind there is a child too young to have a gender playing in a bright plastic wading-pool. Broken bits of grass fur the sides and the sun on the splashes is too bright for eyes. I drive perfunctorily in one direction.
    The road leads me out of the city and I guess now that I must be going north. I like the way the buildings thin out as I move further away from my home. They fragment and fall away. I wind the window down a little and I can smell the warm asphalt and the grazed-off scabs of rubber from other vehicles.
    The clock on the dashboard shows that I have been driving for three and a half hours. I finally stop for fuel in a town where ornate old buildings line the streets. It’s all very romantic but as I pay for the petrol I start to think about going back.
    I buy a sandwich from the matronly woman at the service station and sit in my car overlooking a park to eat it. I can’t see the limits of the park but I like how green it looks as it slopes down towards the centre point. I think I’ve seen the park before, something in my memory whispers of little tiny trains that small children could ride in along the tracks that run through the park.
    The sandwich is finished and I’m driving again. The road opens out and I pass a plant nursery in an old drive-in movie theatre, and a Christian centre with its roof entirely taken up by the letters JESUS IS LORD. There are tiny horses in a paddock and then trees – so many broken finger-bones stuck close together in the ground to hold up grey-green scrub. Then billboards with pictures of whales on them, then another stretch of buildings – another town. I skirt around the edge of this town and there are trees again.

    The sign says I’m in BURRUM HEADS. The stretch of land between the road and the beach has concrete squares and a spilled handful of off-season caravans. I park under a large tree that drops tiny leaves on the car. There is still plenty of light left in the day as I reach the bikeway that obediently follows the sand along the coast.
    I walk for a short while, but soon I veer off the bricks of the path. The water makes a wonderfully unbroken line against the sky and I think of the balance poles used by tight-rope walkers – curving slightly down at the ends. I slip off my shoes and out of my shirt. I leave my clothes; my arms are stretched out away from my body as I slip into the water. It’s quite shallow, and the tide is slowly creeping away from the shore. Beads of water are trapped under the thin blonde hairs on my arms. The sun turns every bubble into a snow-globe's diorama of sea, sky and me. Weak waves push against my legs; I don’t stumble. I’m in my natural state.

Mesh-Sock Butt-Sling

2008-02-13T04:52:20Z

Train journey went smoothly. I prefer the 5pm train to the 11am; less crowded.

Yesterday morning I had an optometrist appointment. Dr Richard Watt wanted to know all about my second life work and looked up my flickr page and everything. This was slightly embarrassing but I like Richard. He has the same birthday as I do and like many Capricorns is fairly eccentric. My prescription didn't change all that much but I still got new frames. Hopefully I'll be able to pick them up before I go home tomorrow morning. The frames are very nice. Wide sides as is en vogue right now and tiger print on the inside - rawr!
I told about them:
me: And you'll be all like OMGINEVERREALISEDHOWWELLYOUFULLFILMYSECRETLIBRARIANWHOSTRIPSDOWNTOSTOCKINGSANDGLASSESFANTASY.
At least, that's how it will play out in my head.
Shay: That's quite a reaction!
me: People talk in all caps and never use space-bar in my head.

I went to the dentist this morning. My teeth are all good but one of my top wisdoms has finally broken the surface but it's too far back to clean so I'll have to have it out. Getting an X-ray of the rest of my teeth in half an hour.

shay4brains

i r model, srsly

2008-02-11T01:04:11Z

Lots of my avatar in this month's Second Style Magazine. I'm just that hot right now.
Read it here.

I'm taking the train to mum's this evening. I'll be in Hervey Bay from tonight until Thursday morning. I'll hopefully be able to install PhotoShop on her computer so I can keep working while I'm there - fingers crossed. If not I'll get stuck into some writing and just catch up my work hours when I get home - diet coke will help with that.

I might have time for another entry before I leave but if not - see you in the bay!

Cautious Creativity

2008-02-10T11:30:47Z

Lots of writing related thought today. One of the groups I joined in a burst of enthusiasm for all things writing-related, project_finish, has encouraged me to set a word goal for this month. As it's already the 10th and I'm out of practice I've set it as 7,000 words. I'm hoping to make a start on an assignment for my novel writing subject even before the semester officially starts. I like the idea of adapting a play I used to be so passionate about for the assignment. It will make it easier to avoid writers block and will hopefully rekindle some of my old enthusiasm for the story.

The first 15 words of my 7k:

Flocks of black clad youth
in the womb of smokey mall
mourning for no one.

I'm having trouble organising my thoughts at the moment. Talking to Shay.Happy but tired.

Explainations

2008-02-10T01:51:30Z

In the interest of time-wasting, I'm here to explain a few miscellaneous things about this journal.

First of all, the title - "What the Birds See". This isn't all that deep or original, one of my very favourite novels is Of a Boy by Sonya Harnett. In the US this novel is published under the title What the Birds See. It seemed appropriate as I'm a bird person and I'm missing my budgies at the moment. They're living with my mum as I can't have pets at my current apartment.

Userpics

My default picture (the one heading this entry) should be fairly self-explanatory. I love Devo. I love whippets. I love puns. I use this pic for general posts that don't really fit into the other ones.

I've seen Mean Girls far too many times and can recite too much of it by heart. This pic is to illustrate silliness or girlishness. It's kind of interchangeable with whippet good.

This is my main avatar in Second Life - Dakota Buck (often known as 'Kota). I'll use this image for any Second Life related entries.

Twiggy is my personal style icon. My favourite model. The queen of mod. Associate this pic with any style or fashion related entries.

I'm proud to wear glasses, in fact I'll be getting new ones next week. I like thick frames; geek is chic, baby! This is the image to use for any posts related to academia, literature or my own writings.

I can't put off making lunch any longer, this entry was fairly pointless but one day I may want to look back on it when trying to work out what the hell I was thinking.

Scraps and Sorting

2008-02-09T20:53:57Z

I hate that the largest tag in my tag-cloud is "dylan", we broke up over a year ago. Speaking of things from over a year ago, I found this scrap while reorganising my writing folder. It's dated 26th November 2006:

I just wrote 196 words that weren’t for Uni. That’s 196 words more than I have done for quite a while. Re-reading it is 196 words that have been put together fairly poorly and say basically nothing. A character studying their hands and playing a computer card game for 196 words.

The last short story I wrote was for Creative Writing: The Short Story; that’s the kind of sentence I highlight angrily when I’m critiquing. “Unnecessary.” The last short story, Equilibrium, is being critiqued on Monday but I have already gone in a new direction with it, I think. I talked to one of my classmates, Mick, about it when I was meant to be getting ready to meet Rook at the Guild Bar. He kind of fixed the problem I was having with the story, I just have to re-write now.
I sent my parents the story and Dad’s comment was, “Not your best.”
Mum agreed, “It’s not up to the standard of your poems, or that story about the dog.”
“The dog that drowns?”
“Yes, that one.”

I’ve been clicking through the files in the folder labeled My Writings; it’s all kind of… crap. And lame. I don’t know whether to re-write something or start fresh. I need a project, one that isn’t an assessment piece. I think what I really want to do is finish my play.

It's a little depressing that nothing has really changed since then.

This year will be a better year. I'm feeling hopeful and motivated. My therapy is going well; my weight-loss too. My new writings sorting system makes me cheerful. Four main folders:
- 1. Work In Progress
- 2. Completed
- 3. Polished
- Ideas and Scraps
Eventually there'll be sub-folders for poetry, prose etc but as the folder for my third step is currently empty there's not much point. This year I'm going to fill the third step folder... or at least the second step.

The Mother & The Father

2008-02-09T12:59:57Z

I've had too much diet coke to drink so I'm awake when I'd normally be asleep (I tend to go to bed early for my mental and physical well-being). So, what to do with my awake twitchy time? I'm sorting through my writings folder because I want to polish/complete the old stuff being stored in that folder. Get things up to submission standard so I can consider sending them out... or at least have the sense of self-satisfaction that comes from having a large body of completely finished work.

I'm noticing that I have quite a lot of pieces with family themes, interesting but maybe not unexpected. Two short poems, both autobiographical. Written for my mum and dad, respectively.

Mothering
During a lull in the evening
the writer is discussing her apprehension
of starting life
at university.

Her mother lays aside
her literary dissection to offer
praise. You are
already a writer.

I Write Trees
The father will draw
the girl's attention
to the ruddiness of fleshy infant
leaves, like a wound,
on the Syzygium.
To an insected leaf he will
drag her eyes and she must
scent the leaves crushed in his soil
stained hand.
Again he presents
her with the texture
of a seed-pod, or the thrill
of the first petite
flower growing
beside feet.
She takes it in. She writes,
landscapes. And
trees. She writes the
detail her father gave her.
My father brought loveliness,
she writes trees.

Please crit and comment as you see fit. I'd like to be done with them... maybe work on an anthology of poetry and prose around the family theme?

I'm going to read some more of Fashion Babylon (Imogen Edwards-Jones & Anonymous) and try to sleep.

The List

2008-02-09T06:44:52Z

I'm hoping this will become a regular segment, I'll update the list - crossing off things I've bought and adding new items. I'm trying to reduce my shopping because I'm heading over to the US and Canada at the end of June but it's nice to have a list of the things I'd like when I have some spare money.

Apparel
- Reversible Ahoy Vest from missbrache on Etsy.
- Mod Jumper Dress from missbrache on Etsy.
- The Lucy Jumper from missbrache on Etsy.
- Whippet Good T-Shirt from One Horse Shy.
- Junior High Jesus from One Horse Shy.

Jewelry
- Old Time Pocket Watch Necklace from ModCloth.
- Trojan Horse Necklace from ModCloth.
- Twisting Tree Ring from ModCloth.
- Falling Leaves Necklace from ModCloth.
- Looped Leaves Earrings from ModCloth.

Other Accessories
- Olive Wires Purse from ModCloth.
- Seas of Ice Scarf from ModCloth.

Books & Stationery
- The Age of Feminine Drawing from ModCloth.

Misc Pretty Things
- Mod Girl Mini Mirror from ModCloth.

That's all I had in my bookmarks (which are now sorted), expect an update soon.

Look Who's Been Busy

2008-02-09T03:40:31Z

...and by busy I mean procrastinating.

I was prompted to fiddle around with LJ again when I came across ayame_neko's old journal (fwoar, it dates back to 2002). I know her from Second Life and discovered the journal when running a google search for Janine Hawkins second life because I wanted to send an article that had been written about her and second life to my mum. I actually created a new account back in December while lonely and listless at the family home but only ever posted one entry. I've copied that entry across to this account and back-dated it as I already have enough disused LJ accounts floating around. I'd honestly forgotten this account even existed until I was updating my school info on the account from December today.

Reacquainting myself with this site is making me miss the people who I haven't caught up with in far too long. I'm really hoping that it'll be easier to keep in touch if I'm updating here and reading about their doings. I'm not much for socialising these days even if we were all living closer but it would be nice to keep in touch. I haven't forgotten about you like I did this journal.

Being someone who delights in small details and order, I've just spend a fair chunk of time on my userpics:
- Uploading new ones.
- Updating old ones.
- Changing them around on old entries to reflect the subject matter.
Why is that all so exciting and satisfying for me?

Listing things makes me think of you, esckey. Another list, a to do list for the rest of the day.
- Put "coloureds" load into the washing machine (it's so weird how easy it is to scrape together a load of coloured clothes these days).
- Take rubbish down to the bins.
- Clean out and reorganize "Bookmarks" list. I want them in folders and I want less of them, I can't find anything I want and I don't like it.
- Compile an online shopping (do I even do any other kind now?) wishlist and post it here. That will be two posts in one day, baby.
- Log onto Second Life and check in with my employers, upload my work etc. I have a regular part-time (full time while on Summer break) in world now and I love it.

I need anyone who is reading this to be aware of how envious I am of Mac users solely because of iCal. As far as I can tell (as I don't have a Mac), iCal is the most wonderful thing that has ever existed. Organisational tools make me hot.

Back-Dated

2008-02-09T00:52:42Z

I've been at my mum's house in Hervey Bay since the 21st and I'm kind of homesick. The original plan was for me to return to Brisbane on Monday (31st) but we've been discussing having me stay one extra day and drive home on New Year's Day. I'm in two minds on this because although I'm missing my room and especially my computer, I haven't spent as much time as I'd like with mum because of her work schedule.

Mum's at work right now, we went to her parent's house for morning tea this morning and grandma gave me my birthday gift in advance to save on postage. Hopefully I'll remember that I have it on my birthday as I wasn't expecting to be unwrapping any gifts on that day. I've read the card attached to the parcel and I felt very odd reading "with heaps of love for your 20th". Twenty? Surely not. I'm not sure how comfortable I am with the thought of leaving teenhood behind. It's not that I think I'm lacking in maturity, it's just that I'm so used to and comfortable with been a teen. Gosh, less than a month left to star in Teens XXX or something of the sort, har har har. I guess I kind of feel this way every birthday, especially as they seem to come with increasing speed each year, but I'll never be a teenager again. It seems stranger even, than reaching my majority - you may be an adult but at least there's still a couple of years to be a teen. Well, I guess those couple of years have passed now.

My diet's been going quite well while I've been here. I'm looking forward to next Wednesday's weigh-in to see how much I've managed to lose over the christmas break. It's nice to think about losing weight over such a food-filled break. Weight Watchers has been so great so far and I'm so glad I signed up. Definitely worth the money.

The Promise of the New

2006-07-28T01:55:26Z

A few things have been happening lately:
- I've started a new semester of Uni and am feeling quite positive about my subjects. (Narrative in Creative Industries, Creative Writing: The Short Story, Ozlit and Writing for Film and TV).
- I'm finally back to reading a lot - two novels in the past week and a half. Both were for Ozlit.
- I enjoy talking to my mother on the phone. This is because we see each other so infrequently; it's true that absence makes the heart grow fonder.
- Dylan failed his first semester of Exercise Science and is going back to Gladstone to pursue an electrical fitting apprenticeship.

I guess the last point is the one that is affecting me the most. Settling into my new home has been a fairly painless operation because I had him with me. I've gotten very used to having him around so much. It was bad enough when we were three hours apart last year. Gladstone is a long way away.

Yesterday I finished reading Sushi Central by Alasdair Duncan. It was quite good. In some places I really liked it, in others not quite so much. I met the author briefly at a reading, he's a masters student at my uni. Last week I read 1988 by Andrew McGahan. I really liked it and I recommend you all go out and find it and devour it.
It's the Bicentennial year and for Gordon - failed writer and bottleshop boy - it seems his life is going nowhere. It's time to escape. From his overcrowded house, from Brisbane, from Expo 88, from everything. He stumbles into Wayne who has connections in Darwin and the promise of work. So the two of them head north toward swamps and crocodiles, in search of inspiration, and of their rightful place in the culture of Australia.

I have to get to work on my twenty-five minute script for Writing for Film and TV so this is where I'll leave you.

numerical. x.

Special Issue

2006-06-14T11:31:54Z

Yes, you will get a normal entry very soon but for the moment I will distract you with a moving picture...

I Pinch

Mr Sandman, Bring Me A Dream

2006-06-08T04:20:36Z

...make him the cutest that I've ever seen.

Yesterday, whilst rather busy, was not particularly productive. By productive I'm referring to me make any in-roads into the assignments I have due tomorrow:
+ A 10 minute short film script. (10 Pages) - Media Writing.
+ A folio of my work from this semester and my edited short story. - Intro to Creative Writing.
+ A City Council response to creative project proposal. (2000 words) - Creative Industries (the core-unit from hell).

Yesterday morning I awoke bright and early to catch a bus into the city, I had a 9.30am appointment to have a style-cut by student hairdressers. The cut looks good (I have what esckey always used to refer to as my "Emily the Strange" haircut - this was just his way of saying that I had a fringe) however I wasn't able to leave until almost 1pm. The student - Rachel - had to have the cut checked by the instructor every step of the way and the whole thing had to start with a pop quiz as to what type of hair I had. I've had about 20cm cut of it, it feels nice.

Dylan stayed at home in bed when I left but he was up when I came home. He was playing his best character on World of Warcraft. If you haven't already played this MMPORPG (Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Game) you really should avoid it - it's highly addictive and can waste away entire days and nights. It is an especially bad idea if you're trying to say do a course at university. You have been warned.

In the evening I dragged Dylan out to the first ever public reading of Vox Barbara - the student guild affiliated creative writing collective of which I am a member. Our special guests were John Birmingham and Alistair Duncan. The majority of the readers were really good and after a slow start Dylan managed to enjoy himself even though it wasn't really his scene. The reading was at the Good Knight Bar, downstairs from the International House of Pancakes; Dylan and I ordered Nachos. Dylan and I waited for Nachos. Some time later Dylan and I ate cold Nachos.

This morning my first ever package from e-bay arrived. Its a really nice red shirt, I'm expecting more tomorrow and on Monday. I like how this shirt feels against my skin, so very soft, it has pin-tucking and white lace trim on the yoke.

Dylan will be leaving soon, I will be writing assignments. It is set to be quite a flat day and I can not imagine much at all happening.

Numerical. x.

maybe_supernova has brought this to my attention in her LJ: Let's Sexy English! please go forth and appreciate it in all its Asian glory.

The Journal Is A Virgin

2006-06-06T07:56:56Z

...but I am not.

This is the beginning. It is not particularly flashy or unusual but hopefully it will continue and I will be a better writer because of it. This journal will not contain any trace of whiney "I cut myself to ease the deep pain inside of me" tripe, if you would like to read this - which is fair enough, each to their own - there are plenty of journals out there that will provide this; so go forth and seek them for this is not the place for you. This is for me to write, and maybe at times you, the reader, will be entertained. You have got to this point, if this appeals to you thus far, please continue to read.

This will not begin with a long winded life story or character description info-dump, instead it begins today, a Tuesday.

I wore a tie today, I haven't done that in some time but today the greys, blues, pinks and reds of this one appealed to me. Maybe that is significant, maybe it isn't.

Miles, the tallest of my household has become very taken with my budgerigar - Hamish Wally Bubby-Hughes. They dance together to Cher and Kylie. My budgerigar has absolutely appalling taste in music. Hamish always attempts to talk during that Cher song where she insistently asks if you believe in life after love. For those who don't know, the "talking" voice of a budgie is quite mechanical sounding - hence why he tries to talk during the Cher song.

I observed today, as I have several times before that I am the only one in this house that doesn't sing in the shower. My room is next to the bathroom (the other three rooms are on the other side of the hall. I can hear when people pee, I hear when they flush, I hear when they don't wash their hands (Peter - you'd think for a gay man he'd have a better sense of hygiene), I hear when they burp (James - his belches are really strange, almost more like hiccups) and of course when they sing (which is especially Miles but the other two as well).

Today the battery had run dead on my phone so I went to plug it in to the charger by my bed, in the lounge room (which is on the opposite side of my room to the bathroom) Peter and Miles were watching the original British version of Queer as Folk, suddenly through the wall I here:
"You're the gayer one," in Pete's voice.
"Oh, what? Gay-boy," comes Miles's reply.
"What? No!"
"You are by far the queerer one," says Miles, "look, we'll ask [My name]." A pause, "[My name]!" he calls.
By this stage I am standing at the door of my room, crouching down listening.
Me, "Uh, yes?"
"What were you doing?" Miles gives me the funny look I usually give him when he does something weird (like drawing the compound for a chemical found in saphron on the kitchen whiteboard).
"Nothing just... uh..."
"Who's queerer - me or Pete?"
My answer was obvious, "Pete."
Peter has been a little huffy since then, ah well.

I will soon be going to Roma St Station to meet Dylan off the train. He wrote off his car last week and now he has to take the train from Robina to see me. When he was living in Labrador I was the one who was always taking the train. Sometimes when the train was packed I would have to stand the entire journey, which was a waste of studying time and occasionally painful in particularly high heels.

The washing machine has hollered from downstairs - announcing that is finished spinning so that is all for the first entry.

Numerical. x.