| no wonder there's panic |
[28 Aug 2008|11:04pm] |
I had a day off today.
On Tuesday, my boss from my Thursday and Friday job sent me an SMS that said "just come in friday", so I took the liberty of declaring Thursday a public holiday for everyone called Katy who lives in Perth, but I forgot to tell all the other Katys, sorry, but at least the line at the supermarket was probably shorter as a result, hooray for me.
And today I got a LOT done. You know, that stuff that you can never fit in because services are only available 9am-5pm Monday to Friday, and by some weird coincidence you also work 9am-5pm Monday to Friday - or 8.30am-6pm in my case, which also totally rules out popping by ANYWHERE remotely servicey on the way to or from work, except for those painters and tilers who start at 7am, and I just haven't been requiring a bathroom renovation lately so they AREN'T MUCH GOOD TO ME GODDAMMIT.
But today was a good day for servicey things, and thus here is a breakdown of what I did today.
5.15am - dropped the Welshman at the airport (I guess technically this was me rendering a service)
10.30am - resurfaced from my bed
11am - googled "things you can claim on tax". Results were incredibly vague and unhelpful. Ate some cereal.
12pm - drove to Subiaco to buy some Japanese tea leaves from the Japanese shop. Seemed a rather long trip across the city just to get tea. It is good tea though. It has bits of rice in it.
12.30pm - Still driving. Officially declared Perth daytime radio stations as SHITE. Incessant talking about nothing, no good music in between. Would have flipped to the AM side but feared plunging into the darkness of YourradionolongertunesintoANYTHING,FOREVER Land. Survey of CDs in glovebox: Two Spice Girls albums and Hanson's first album. Back to shite Perth radio as today was not a day for late 90s pop, how ever well it brightens my mood on long car trips.
Note: Sooo, so far I haven't really done any servicey things, but we're getting to the good bit now.
1.15pm - Drove to H&R Block in Morley to get my tax done. I had numerous bits of paper in a folder, I think some were receipts, I'm sure two were group certificates. I walked in to the office.
2.00pm - I staggered out of the office shellshocked. An accountant had just driven over me with the tax deduction truck. I now officially owed Mr Tax Man about $5k.
Side note: I'd been a freelance journo during 07/08 and along with some communications contract work with a mining company, it had grossed me around the $20k mark, and as I'd yet to pay a cent of tax on that amount and not much on the rest of my earnings, I was expecting to be his with a much, MUCH bigger bill. So the tax deduction truck bore good news, and I have enough put aside to make Mr TM go away until next year. MY TAX IS NOW DONE.
2.15pm - Drove around Morley looking for a panel beater to get the little ding out of my car. Found an appropriately attired and dust-smudged bloke, who charged me a six-pack of Jimmies for ten seconds' work. When I returned from the bottle-o with his payment I think he felt bad about this sheer extortion of a small blonde person, so he buffed a scrape off my car's back bumper just to appear charitable.
2.30pm - went to Coles to buy a baby paintbrush to fix some minor scrapes on my car. Left quickly and paintbrushlessly.
3.00pm - went to the doctor for a jab that was due. How's that for getting stuff done on a weekday off!
3.15pm - Back to Morley, into Red Dot in Galleria to buy various bits and pieces that you only seem to find all congregated together in Red Dot; otherwise you have to spend six hours searching K-Mart and Target and paying ten times the price. (Results of Red Dot spree: 2x snuggly blanket, 3x 4pack of small round clear plastic containers, 1x paintbrush set, 1x set of colourful alphabet stickers, 1x pair of shoe insert cushions, 1x set of jubbly tape, 1x certificate frame)
4.00pm - home, where I used the new plastic containers, some packing tape and a pair of scissors to make labelled containers for all my different leaf teas. I am not a very crafty person but this made me feel accomplished and special.
4.30pm - Used a new paintbrush and the little nail polish-like bottle of red stuff in my glovebox to paint the scrapes on my car. Possibly did more harm than good.
5.00pm - HAHAHA I didn't tell you earlier, but all day, whenever I popped home, I'd been putting loads of washing on! SNEAKILY! I now had four loads that needed drying, so I lumbered with three washing baskets' worth to the local laundrymat and hogged the dryers for half an hour, feeding them dollar coins every seven minutes to keep tumbling my garments. Whores.
Soooo when I returned home I felt very very accomplished! Quickly read the above breakdown again to fully appreciate the magnitude of my not-wasted day!
I'm now just about to go to bed and heard a lyric that just surfaced from WinAmp: "Is it so hard for you to realize - she'll never be me". Assuming 'she' is the jilted singer's ex's new squeeze, I thought: er yes, that's the whole idea - the reason he's going out with 'her' now is because she's not you - because he's not into you, or people like you, anymore, and that's why he doesn't want to be with you.
But we'll tell ourselves anything to make us feel good, so that's okay. Although I'd be very embarrassed to snarl "She'll never be me!" to a guy who's already moved on. He would just give a slightly apologetic look to the new girl at his side, who is currently looking horrified at the thought that anyone has even implied that she may be anything like the red-faced, crazy-eyed lunatic hovering over her table hissing at her date, then after a few seconds thought, thanking her lucky stars that the crazy person's wording pretty much excluded her from ever being in that same class of loon.
Ah, perspective!
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| i know nobody knows where it comes and where it goes |
[09 Mar 2008|02:53am] |
I've found a blog I enjoy reading: stateoftheart.popphoto.com. Every time I go there they have something different and interesting to look at and think about.
I've always had rather a fickle relationship with blogs. I read my Livejournal friends page because I know the people featured in the text. Occasionally I will follow a link to a friend of a friend, and read their journal, but it rarely holds my attention long enough for a second visit. I don't think that this is through any lack of fascination with other people's lives - it's really just that I can't be bothered reading someone else's ramblings about their pet cat, boring job, lazy husband etc, and I have no doubt that my own journal has been skipped over by strangers many a time for that same reason.
But having said that - does anyone care how many people read their journal? I remember when I first made a personal website, and put a counter on it. I was delighted when the counter went into triple, then quadruple figures - though this was probably largely due to my own constant F5ing of my handiwork. I was so proud that people would want to read what I had written.
Nowadays, I'm not so fussed, though admittedly I'm a sucker for comments. But I do realize that, unlike the aforelinked blog, I don't endeavor to write anything here that could really be perceived as remotely interesting to anyone who doesn't know me.
And for now, I think that's all I want it to be.
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| something wicked this way comes |
[04 Feb 2008|11:34pm] |
I just came back from attending my first official function as a magazine editor. It was the Restaurant and Catering WA Grand Gala Ball and Awards, and it was pretty cool. Nice food, and free alcohol - but I was driving so I just enjoyed the food.
Seemingly a squillion awards were presented for various restaurant-related categories. Jackson's won the Most Outstanding award - good on them, Neil Jackson's restaurant (on Beaufort St in My Lawley - plug plug) is beautiful and intimate, and the service is great, which is pretty rare nowadays.
Yay for being an editor and getting free tickets to events!
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[14 Nov 2007|06:30pm] |
I finished all my uni work a few days ago, but I'm still using the uni labs because there is no internets at home. And I'm on some stupid detox thing where I'm only eating high-water-content fruit and vegies, and it's making me weak and crabby - gollygosh my liver better appreciate this. I only started yesterday morning and my body is already cranky with me for not giving it any fuel.
Philosophical thought of the post: my avatar is of Jessica rabbit, yet I look nothing like her and embody none of her traits (even the non-physical ones).
I don't want a clear picture of myself on my blog for identity reasons (you will NEVER find me on MySpace with my full name, a list of the alcoholic beverages I consumed last night and a large colour photo of my grinning mug and more cleave than you can poke a cigar at).
Not exactly something I want my future employees to see.
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| narrow halls |
[08 Nov 2007|12:00am] |
In the narrow halls of learning
As my mind sits quickly churning
All the words and lines and letters that I taught it long ago.
In the narrow halls of thinking
As my eyes fix hardly blinking
On the pages onto phrases that I never thought I’d know.
As my fingers start to flicker
Making words they move much quicker
Turning letters into pages into something writ by me.
As the thoughts start getting clearer
And the deadline gets much nearer
In the narrow halls of here there's nowhere else I'd rather be.
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| jimmy dean |
[22 Oct 2007|10:57pm] |
Trying to balance life at the moment is a bit hard, end of semester etc, but it feels so good when I get it all together. Today I wrote a restaurant review, did a workshop for a class and sent out a few emails requesting interviews for an article I'm writing, plus did 40 minutes on the treadmill (uphill!) and my half-hour Belly, Butt and Thighs aerobics DVD.
I think the aerobics instructor and I have a connection - she's so nice and encouraging and calls out lots from the TV screen that I'm doing well.
I've also started doing yoga, which is interesting, I want to get into it. Whoever thought up these ten minute workout DVD jobbies was so onto something.
Semester is over in just three weeks or so and I'm off to Malaysia for a week to a five star resort, to relax and do nothing. That is my only aim, aside from maybe reading a few good fictions. When people ask me what I accompished on my holiday I will say "absolutely nothing" rather gleefully.
But before that is assignments and classes and moving house, what fantastic timing.
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| four bars away |
[26 Sep 2007|12:19am] |
I got home at about 1.30pm today, after getting a vaccination that will hopefully protect me from all kinds of girl-cancers. I haven't had a needle since high school, and am not a huge fan. I still have two more shots to go, to be administered in the next few months. I'm still wearing the bandaid from today and I keep pressing it to see if the skin hurts. It doesn't, but my imagination begs to differ, thanks very much.
So I got home at 1.30pm, with about 10 hours before bedtime, and a plan that would take about that much time to execute. The plan was: eat some food. Make some calls about a job application. Jump on the treadmill for 40 minutes or so. Work on assignment. Eat some more food. Finish assignment. Go to bed.
I'd like to think the plan was executed flawlessly. It wasn't.
Instead, reality recalls: I ate some food. Stood in front of the heater for about 30 minutes. Sent an email about a job app. Looked at rentals online. Ate some icecream. Ate dinner. Watched Grosse Pointe Blank. Ate some more icecream. Talked to a friend from work on the phone for 40 minutes.
Then I did my assignment.
In hindsight, the icecream was a bad idea, as I'm lactose intolerant and subsequently now practically eight months pregnant.
But the assignment is good, I think. I've worked pretty hard on it and it's worth 50% of my mark. It's only about 3500 words so not too hard, but I wanted at least 3000 of those words to be beard-strokingly analytical.
I'm very tired. I think it's time for bed.
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| as good luck once was |
[18 Sep 2007|09:14pm] |
Right now, Miles Davis is the soundtrack of my life.
I don't know if it's just from having a musical and film background, but sometimes I feel like my life is just a bunch of scenes in a movie I would like to make. And this music makes it so much more so.
It's times like these that I love solitude. Sometimes my favourite company is my own.
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| the ghost of torquemada |
[14 Sep 2007|12:14am] |
The conclusion that you ought to extract confessions by torture from heretics and witches, and burn them to death on the stake is one that you can arrive at perfectly logically if you merely assume the insane first premise that you are the infallible possessor of the ultimately true view of the world.
The Hon. Dean Wells 2006
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| points to ponder version 1.0 |
[11 Sep 2007|08:59pm] |
I think that if I was forced to use a Mac for the rest of my life, I would cry.
Points to ponder about the E-seeyou Masters computer lab:
- Why are the keyboards insanely loud when it's supposed to be a nice quiet room
- Why are they all Macs when lots of smart people prefer PCs
- Why doesn't Word work on any of the computers, when I have no administrative privileges to reinstall it, and the only other text editing program is Mac's Notebook-esque Textedit
Ah, ponderous.
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| crazysane |
[15 Aug 2007|12:48pm] |
I cut a bit of my hair the other day, snip snippity snip.
Why don't people call back when they say they will? I'm on deadline here.
There are workmen on the roof of the house next door. I can see them from my window. They are only about three metres away from where I sit. They are very loud. I was thinking of popping out the window and scaring them but I would feel bad if they fell off the roof.
Damn government people too important to talk to the press (me).
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| less for more |
[01 Aug 2007|07:28pm] |
Back in the good old SCCA Megalab once again.
I'm going to tell my boss to cut me back to four days a week. It's only the first week back at uni and I'm dying of sleep deprivation already.
I can't wait to finish my crappy job and actually get into something career oriented. I've been looking everywhere for something in the journalistic vein. I might be writing restaurant reviews for a local mag soon, yay!
If anyone knows anyone looking for someone who can write, pick me, pick me! Even if it's just writing Auntie Marge's knitting club newsletter every month. I knitted once. I'll knit again.
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| still that young |
[02 Jul 2007|09:43pm] |
Does anyone here believe that they actually live every day like it's their last? I don't. If today was my last day on earth, I certainly wouldn't be thinking about going to bed early.
Living every day your last seems to concentrate on very short term goals. Forget saving up for that holiday next year - let's hijack a plane and take it now! Career - pfffft, who needs one if I'm dead tomorrow anyway.
Although life is fragile and dying tomorrow is definitely a possibility, I think I'll change the mantra to "live every year my last." This accomodates my slightly more long term goals while still ruling out the "yeah I'll get it done in a few decades" attitude.
I still think you should live every day your last in a way - live every day with passion, be focused on what you want, and never take any crap from anyone who shouldn't be giving it to you. I've wasted too much time in the past. But I can control each day ahead of me, and every single day is valuable - whether I spend it dominating the world or just chilling out. I'm not going to look back on my life and wish I hadn't wasted so much time.
I was watching a movie the other day and a 30 year old asks her mother what she would have done differently in her life. Presumably the mother was pushing 60 so there wasn't as much time left to change her life (although it's still easy to do.) Naturally, as feel-good movies do, the mother said she wouldn't change anything.
But it made me realize that if I want to do things with my life, I can, and I don't have to think my path is already determined. It's not a case of being "not that young" (Wedding Crashers anyone?), because I am that young.
People get depressed about not making their first million or whatever by their 21st birthday. Well, obviously they're not rich yet because they only talked about making that million and never actually acted on it. At least all the people who had to declare bankruptcy actually gave it a go. You gotta actually put plans in motion to get results.
On a different note, today a girl from the bakery asked me if I was going to keep working when uni starts again. Er. No, I was going to quit work and live on the streets? Or apply for welfare and collect my thirty cents a fortnight from Centrelink? Maybe it was a trick question.
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| speedddial |
[25 May 2007|01:25am] |
Sooo tired right now.
I've been doing lots of to do lists and feeling very satisfied to tick things off.
Handed three assignments in last week and two this week. Downside: what I just said. Upside: No exams. Which means after midnight next Friday when I hand in my last assignment, I will have eight weeks of no assessments.
I don't plan to slack off completely though. I have some other projects in the pipeline.
I've been doing lots of menial work so that I have a source of cash, which is annoying. Oh why won't someone give me free money?
Tired and grumpy.
Got my 'How To Start Your Own Religion' article/assignment back. HD+.
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| she's not there |
[30 Apr 2007|02:27am] |
Feeling awfully contemplative all of a sudden.
Is it because my life lacks drama that I feel so interested in other people's? Is it an inbuilt curse of being a woman? I find myself reading other people's LJs in the wee hours, looking for things that will entertain me. If I was reading my own LJ with this purpose, I doubt I would find any satisfaction.
I am working on an article on the subject "how to start your own religion". This will also wax about the seemingly natural human tendency to rely on a belief set. If anyone has any insights into the topic, please feel free to voice it, though being directly quoted will require you to be qualified to make a comment. (This can include such titles as "Bob Winkhide, atheist," "Sally Genieman, devout scientologist," or "Lou Lou Jetlague, psychologist,", although anyone with direct experience with starting religions/cults would be most valued.)
I've been doing a lot of reading of late, and the study of religion is most fascinating.
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| strange fear i haven't felt for days |
[26 Apr 2007|09:36am] |
It's so warm in my bed right now, I'm all snuggly and nice and I don't have to think about going to work for another hour.
It's time for another mass cleanout. I had one only two weeks ago so I'm not sure what I'm going to find to throw away; all i know is that I have too much stuff. I might have to get extreme. The skip bin arrives either today or next Thursday to take care of the big stuff that got ditched last time. I bet I could come up with more.
I own many many clothes but I tend to wear most of the practical ones on at least a monthly basis, and the impractical ones (dresses, sparkly tops) only really need to be worn once a year to justify their existence.
My bedroom furniture cannot be reduced any more.
I have several shoeboxes dedicated to things such as stationery and gift wrapping stuff. If I threw this stuff out I would have to go buy more stuff when I need it, which I do reguarly.
My linen I'm very fond of.
That brings me to my books. I have many books, mostly fiction but there are a few spicy titles of non. They fill two bookshelves and I've read 90% of the titles more than once, 70% more than twice. To some people this might seem a good reason to throw them out but I disagree... I think I'll keep all my books.
Soooo, aside from the odd photo frame and old pair of PJs, it doesn't look like I'll be throwing much out this time.
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| i is the chief overlord of grammar protection |
[12 Apr 2007|11:32pm] |
I think I've found my current true calling, I might have said this before... but it's like the one thing I'm really good at might have been under my nose the whole time.
Got my latest assignment back yesterday - and was given a high distinction. This might not be particuarly remarkable to some people, but I don't recall getting many HDs for assignments in my bachelor degree units, and only had overall HDs for two units (out of 24).
But this is the second assignment I've gotten back for this unit - and my second HD. Watch this space, coz I get two assignments for a different unit back next week =P (If I don't post anything about it, chances are I failed...)
Gosh I've become a bit boring, posting about uni constantly. But generally my social life exists directly in proportion to how much is going on at uni at any one time.
I did go out last Saturday night, had a great time chatting with my mates at the Queens, but then we went to the Shed and couldn't talk because of the loud music and I lost enthusiasm because I think the Shed is a bogan place and frankly, if the music's too loud to enable interaction, the surroundings better be pretty damn classy and the people cool. And my, that sentence was rather long.
So we came home and the Welshman used a fake voucher to get cheap pizzas while I plotted ways to raise bail money if the pizza guy dobbed us into the authorities. Then I made everyone watch A Life Less Ordinary. And I bet that fascinating account of my night was just riveting for everyone who actually read this far.
I've switched abodes. It was more stressful than that sentence implied. But I'm here now and the cleaning's finished and wireless is my friendyfriend. Gollygosh I'm eloquent. Watch out for my byline, it's gonna be a killer.
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| walk down memory alley |
[03 Apr 2007|02:15am] |
Had a big cleanout over the last few days. Found my grey metal lockbox, filled with the angst of a crazy 14-year-old. Had I been 14 in 2007, I may have been an emo person, without the cutting, music or red and black clothes - which probably would have made me like any other 14-year-old today.
So I read through all the angsty poems. It wasn't angst back then but it sure seems like it now. And the stuff that I was concerned about! I don't think I could last five minutes in high school nowadays without rolling my eyes and walking out, after being told by the head beautiful person to not speak to her or whatever. What was going on back in those crazy times?
People over forty whinge at teenagers that they have the best of life and they don't appreciate it, but like John Marsden said in Secret Men's Business, it's sooo much better to be an adult. I don't care that I have to work a crap job to pay to live - it sure beats trying to fit into the ridiculous social structure invented by insecure adolescents.
Anyway, lets end that rant and concentrate on the fact that all the angsty poems could be summed up pretty easily - "Oh why aren't I pretty and cool/And why aren't I liked by the guys at school/One day my true love will come and find me/He'll be strong, preferably accented, hot and sexeeee."
Oh I'm good!
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| slash dot com |
[22 Mar 2007|10:57pm] |
Jazz is just the most amazing music. I understand that we all have different tastes, but when someone tells me they hate jazz I wonder how we come from the same species.
Whoa, my music player just switched from a double bass riff to Fatboy Slim's Slash Dot Slash and I almost fell out of my doona.
My life is busy right now. I am finally learning time management skills. Deadlines are good. And I have decided to map out a plan for the next year or two. A P-A-L-N Plan.
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| settling for nothing |
[12 Mar 2007|10:34am] |
Mmmm, love to sleep in. I have a lecture in less than an hour and my hair is an oil slick and needs a wash, but I'm still curled up between the sheets relishing not being at work.
I've been thinking recently about how if you don't like something about your life, you're the only one that can change things. I always imagined that Bill Gates would notice me one day and handball me a couple of mil, but unless I program some life changing thing for him (and I'm not even a programmer), that's not gonna happen.
So aside from my parents, who want the best for me, and my siblings, who can be so honest, and my close friends, who really care, no one is even going to offer advice. And really, offering advice is all those aforementioned people can really do - life is not like the movies, when a friend is so convinced of your potential success that they send Spielberg your audition tape and you become a star. That doesn't happen. You are the only one who can change things.
Which is why I'm pretty pleased with myself that I got off my ass and reinrolled in uni this year. And I'm doing some other stuff that will hopefully further my success.
The truth is, if you want to go somewhere and be happy, you can't sit back and think someone else will do it for you - not God, not your friends, your parents, your Church, your workmates or your shoulder fairy. It's all up to you.
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