Getting Creative

Creative Zen Neeon 6G
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

After a bit of cajoling, I finally managed to talk myself buying a Creative Zen Neeon 6Gb. It has 7 different back-lighting, unlike the blue-lit MuVo TX FM 512Mb, all the great functions that the TX FM has/had PLUS line-in recording. Terrific investment I think. Now I only need to unload the TX FM that I bought less than 9 months ago. Already listed on eBay, will check how it's progressing nearer to the end.

On the same day that I bought my little Neeon, lil' bro Ben also got offered a contract job down in Wynyard. on way to dinner he stopped by Myer & picked up a 30Gb iPod video. Seeing that my Neeon doesn't have the video function (I'm not at that advanced a stage yet technologically) I'd just have to stick with books while train-ing.

WESTIR/WSCF office launch went without many glitches except for half of the entertainment turning up late. Otherwise it was a fine affair with 30 of the 50 complementary CDs of the new occasional papers gone along with a couple of the hard copies. It's back to mundane office-hood from tomorrow & think about next projects. Maybe I should really think about the recreation one?? A little in-person research wouldn't hurt, right? :P

Easter is coming by again and after a few yr's absence I decided it was time to head down to the Royal Easter Show at Olympic Park again. This time I went with the perenial-attendant Wendy & her cousin Terrence. Despite the fine weather (compared to the downpour which I endured 3 yrs ago, anything would have been fine weather) there weren't really large crowds anywhere, which suited me just fine. All in all, a fun day out to take my mind off things. By the time I got home 10:30-ish I was knackered & left all my un-packing to be done the following day (by others :P)

Speaking of taking my mind off things, I had yet another dose of that this morning. Last night was the helps party at the bridal residence. Attendance was quite high (20 or so, with about 10 more helpers absent) so after some food a run-thru of the big day's schedule was, well, run thru. The task list was 3 A4 pages alone. Luckily most people's tasks were limited to about 1/3 of a page, with multiple persons fussing over the same tasks. It should be fun watching them fight over "artistic differences" :) Anyhow, with more responsibilities ahead (ribbons to buy, bride's bday party, final dance rehearsal, buck's night, church rehearsal, the BIG DAY...) I'm totally buggened (mentally). Not feeling like writing (yet again) I finished reading the last few chapters of Marley & Me. I flicked thru and read the bit where Marley was put down after health problems when I was still about halfway thru the book some time ago, but the sadness that overcame me this morning was something that I did not anticipate. I literally weeped my way thru most of the last 3 chapters, with every few lines presenting new materials to cry about. I haven't cried in may years, & I honestly cannot remmeber exactly when I last cried except maybe my high school graduation (oh my God, was that really 8 & 1/2 yrs ago??). Anyhow, after that little liquid-release & reading of materials totally unrelated to my studies (yet again) I now feel totally refreshed & rejuvenated. Already managed to write 2 paragraphs in the last 2 hours. Wait a minute, why am I wasting my writing on this piece when I have more important things to write about? Oh buzz off then!

Busy busy busy

If you have been followin gmy blog it should come as no surprise to anyone to know that April is an extremely busy month for me, socially speaking. It has not even been a week into April and I already feel that I've done more than a month's worth of socialising. While technically Trish's graduation celebration was not an April event (30 March) it did knida take me until April to recover from the after effects. I arrived at uni as per usual around 9:30 in the morning & proceeded to carry out a whole bunch of tasks - library returns, new interlibrary loans, photocopying, realsing done photocopying wrong & had to re-do, used photocopied sheets for prelim analysis for final results chapter (last of 4), general office adminstrative stuff, print outs, filing, etc. So by the time the graduation ceremony came (6:30pm start, so be seated by 6:15pm) I was over doing work for the day & skipped (not quite literally) into the Clancy Auditorium for the ceremony. After bopping head around for a bit looking for Kev we realised that he was MIA for the academic procession & ended up sitting 2 blocks right of us in the top row of seating. We found out post-ceremony that he was caught (trapped?) in traffic on the notorious Parramatta Road & thus missed the procession by about 10min. According to (Mrs) Elaine, Big Kev was gutted. Not that there was anything that could have been done at that stage. Anywho, while of of the honorary doctorate deceipient (Ian Kiernan) was an absolute bore, the other (Robyn Williams, & NOT, I repeat, NOT the comedian) was an absolute hoot. He was very funny in making fun of the current political stage of Aust. That act was worth the ticket price alone, not that it cost anything... The night continued on afterwards at Giovanna's down in Kingsford. Trish's Uncle Joe, who accompanied Trish's mum here all the way from Ireland, was an incredibly generous man. He bough each of our tables (3 in all) a bottle of Chandon. Absolutely delicious thing it was. The rest of the food for dinner was good too, as expected from Giovanna's. Speeches were also witty & entertaining. It was after 11 before we realised that it was actually time to head on. Big kev & Elaine gave me a lift to Central. I had intended to catch the M2 bus back to Towers, but had just missed by about 15min, & did not realise that the next bus was another hr away that I trained to Pennant Hills instead. By the time I got home it was after 2.

After about 4.5 hrs of sleep I got up early the following morning so I could make up for the day that I had missed at WESTIR. I never fully got over the self-induced sleep deprivation during the day & thus took me until April to fully recover from the graduation. There are light days and there are heavy days. In view of the self-induced sleep deprivation I decided to have a light day at WESTIR (choice of light day was fortunately made available after on tuesday having 1/ finalised profiles for Waverley, and 2/ made final corrections for crime cccasional paper thus making it ready for publication) & instead of doing any work that required levels of intellect higher than that of an ant I tidied up the office in preparation for tomorrow's (6 Apr) launch of new/joint office w/ WSCF. Have continued on such low-intellect duties this tuesday as well as did covers of occasional papers #3 & #4 ready for show-&-tell tomorrow and attend joint staff meeting for task designation. Plenty of work still tomorrow. At least there is champagne at the end of all these. Hope they are good ones. (Do I smell a running theme?)

Sunday was the future Mrs D's bday & so being a Pol-ish gathering the alcohol was flowing freely all afternoon & evening. Nice gathering Mrs D. More social events had been flagged as a result of alcohol's involvement.

This week my groomsman duties continued & expanded with new duty - song list. Luckily I already had a contingent song list ready from weeks back so coming up with a short list wasn't quite as hard as one would think. Still, had to go thru the 10 pages of songs in the DJ's list & pick out the appropriate ones. Will also request songs that were notably missing. (How can a DJ who does wedding not have Tony Bennett's version - or any version for that matter - of The Way You Look Tonight??). Duties continue on sunday was dance practice & run thru of the day's schedule prior to the 'bridal party' party.

Just the thought of these hightlights of social events is leaving me exhausted. Will report again post office launch.

Time to crank it up

It's less than a month out from the BIG DAY and so things are getting cranked up. Apart from the weekly dance practice (which I sucked this past Sat. Must practice basic steps at home before this Sat's session), organisations of various things (who to teach missing groomsman dance steps; buck's/hen's night for respective buck/hen; fit everyone for rehearsal sometime during wk before; collect rentals - tux, cars, etc; discuss logistics of the day/days before/days after...). I have managed to take some time of my own mental challenge & not thinking about the PhD so much the past 5/6 days. Will start on next chapter again today/after this. Also need to plan backyard remodel so to adjust to termite treatment. Spent part of this past wkend clearing out existing garden beds next to house for termite traps. The guy's explanations sound very iffy to me, but I guess I (so far) know no details of the insect & how to treat them so I suppose we can only do as he says. But still, iffy.

No more movies lately except just order the Donnie Darko super boxset. Alas won't arrive until mid May (2 freaking months to wait!?!? Sorry, need to sound more Aussie - 2 BLOODY months to wait!?!?!). Must occupy self with other 'social' social events - graduation dinner, pre-wedding groomsman duties, bday drinks/nibbles, etc. Hmm, what about the Arrested Development season 2 DVD box that I & Scrubs seasons 1 & 2 that little bro just bought?

Gyllenhaal week - take 2

Finally sent off my project at work on Thursday which meant that after lunch I didn't really have anything important/urgent to tend to. Discussion of Business Plan is not until this coming Thursday, so I proceeded to read screenplay of Donnie Darko. Yes, after reading and re-reading and re-reading Brokeback screenplay I'm kinda into reading screenplays at the moment, so Marley & Me would just have to sit by itself for a while. Can't remember exactly where I read it, but wherever it was it said that any Gyllenhaal (Jake) fan should watch Donnie Darko. I found out that yet another version (a 6+hr, 3 DVD collector's box) is coming out mid May, so I thought I'd find & read the screenplay before decided which version I should buy (stupid sigle-disc, Director's cut 2-disc, or the 3-disc super box). Like I said, nothing important/urgent to do Thurs arvo, so started reading D.D.. I'm still failing to see why it's being called a cult classic, because from what I read (finished Saturday morning before dance lesson when not feeling like writing) it was tremendously funny. It is clicky, but funny. So have decided to order the 3-disc super box now. Sigh, have to wait until mid May!?!! Oh well, shouldn't really be spending that much time doing anything other than writing anyway. Plus, groomsman duties would be over by then. Great timing. Can't wait.

Almost finished writing Ch 5. Should be read to send off by tomorrow & have meeting Wednesday morning. Good, progress I like.

More groomsman duties:

1. Cars rented. Must remember to bring reservation numbers
2. More dance lessons. Scarping cha cha & will now hone in on the foxtrot/4-steps from now on.
3. Have designated bride's maid organised. Both of them are short, & both groomsmen (me included) are my height (well, I know I am, obviously. But Edmund is same height but smaller built) so won't make much difference who goes with who really
4. Search for glass pebbles as decoration for reception. The bride actually asked me to do this, so does that technically make me a bride's maid double?
5. Think about solution for rose decoration at reception. The bride asked me this too. I'm really doubling up as a quasi-bride's maid ain't I?
   

Gyllenhaal week

It's a very heavily Gyllenhaal week, & it's only Wednesday. Jake, not Maggie. The week after the Oscars (last wk) left me deeply depressed. Not entirely to do with the unsatifactory results (4 films got 3 each, how bizzarre was that!?!), but a combination of feeling sad after having read various versions of Brokeback numerous times (at last count, downloaded version: 1; book version (same as downloaded version): 1; production screenplay: 1; original New Yorker version: 1; various parts of the story plus various, 'important' scenes: lost count), my own inability to write my chapter (spent 4 freaking days writing 1 opening paragraph, pulling it apart, telling myself that I suck in this, etc) before finally turning around & managed to move on & get writing again. And so my Gyllenhaal week started. Good writing/editing Monday morning before meeting with supervisor. Great progress, & got myself mentally refocussed for a bit. Afterwards, skipped straight to the city & watched Brokeback Mountain again, 1st movie that I've seen in a cinema twice. I was willing to gamble my sanity away (been totally obsessed with Brokeback since end of Jan (read above). Watching it for the 2nd time was either going to bring closure on that obsession & get me back to 'normal' life, or continue my obsession). Still excellent as ever (ok, so it was the latter of the outcomes), which prompted me to go home & re-read some of the scenes again. Seriously, everytime I read it, & I've read it many times (read above, again) I find something that I failed to notice before. Must find way of ending obsession. Anyhow, back to work yesterday. While waiting for comp to do complicated graphic generations, started reading original New Yorker version of Brokeback. Didn't manage to finish it at work, and after tennis last night, finally finished reading it past 1:30 this morning. Combined with the drizzly humid weather last night, the late sleep (plus lack of sleep from pervious days) completely exhausted me, resulting in a 10-hr coma & not getting up until nearly midday (thank god was not going to go anywhere today). Attempted to write a bit, but recovery from tennis was going much slower than normal, which distracted me a lot. Decided to skip writing & went to watch Jarhead instead (thus continuation of Gyllenhaal week). A very good film that exposed the inhumanities & frivolity of war. Highly recommend it. The ending was a bit abrupt after the end of the war (oh come on, it was Gulf War I, every one knows how it ended!!), leaving the characters hanging a bit, particularly Swoff/Gyllenhaal. But otherwise, mighty gd film. Might try & catch more of others by end of March before discount ends. Already done Match Point lastMmonday, so will see about Capote, Rent and/or Transamerica.

Heavy social calendar coming right up. Groomsman duties officially begun last saturday when I went to a dance lesson & learned to cha cha. More to come this Sat, but before that, there's the fitting coming up tomorrow night, & being left in charge for booking rental car for the big day. Trish's graduation is also on thursday night next week, followed by Karen's PhD submission party on Friday. Might see about Easter Show early April as well. Chockers.

Faux tub

Faux tub
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

Finally I've finished my faux stone tub planter! It's taken quite a while seeing that I kept putting it aside for other things like writing, reading, DVDs & movies, but as I'm having yet another one of my usual wednesday off, & after much bumming around this morning starting with Season 2 of Golden Girls on DVD & other bits & pieces, I finished plastering the remaining 2 sides of my faux tub (snowy polystyrine centre with home-mixed plaster exterior. Is that how you spell polystyrine? With so many Ys?) Here's the finished picture. No, not quite the finished product. As we speaking I'm waiting for my old-teabag/coffee distressing effect to dry so it'll look for like real stone instead of plastered polystyrine. Shall post again when product finished.

p.s. Never been around to watching TransAmerica free preview. Traffic/road work at Lane Cove just too crazy I'd have too much trouble getting home. Have not been to any movie since last post either, so no update on to-watch list either. Must find out when TransAm & Capote starts showing on non-arthouse cinemas...

p.p.s. Brokeback screenplay finally arrived Friday. Have already finished with short story, analysed it & pulled it apart (figuratively of course) like wrapping paper on Boxing Day. It's still as good as I had remembered and must proceed onto the screenplay & accompaying essasys by Proulx, McMurtry & Ossana double quick :)

Movie list update

Been to tonnes of movies lately, so my to-see list is getting shorter & shorter. Just been to Walk the Line this morning after Munich on Saturday. That would be 3rd for the month & 5th for the yr! I don't think I've ever been to the movies at such high frequency in my life. 1 every month or 2 months maybe, but never this closely together. Anyhow, having decided to skip The Producers, now I only have Capote & TransAmerica left on my list. AND, my free tickets to TransAmerica just arrived today for next monday night, so 1 more down by end of next Mon! Maybe I should add Jarhead to the list seeing that I have cheap ticket vouchers... Or Brokeback again after finish reading the script? Hmm, thinking...

On other fronts, had my 1st meeting with:

1. co-supervisor
2. both supervisor & co-supervisor present

Good outcomes from the hour-long meeting, which means that plenty more work still laying ahead of me. I'm finally seeing the benefits of having a 2nd supervisor. Wendy S. is telling me things that Kev is not/has neglected to/hasn't thought of yet. She thought that she was in a tone that sounded too 'corrective' but it was exactly what I needed to hear from her. So, excellent. Now, moving on the writing 3rd results chapter. Finished coding & entering data for this chapter this past wkend & monday, so should probably stop blogging now & do my analysis. Have had enough fun for the day (for the night, on the other hand, is an entirely different matter :P Ooh, new Property Ladder is on Lifestyle tonight!) Ok, stop now. Now, I said!

Geisha

Oscar noms are out and I intend to watch quite a few before the March ceremony. As said in previous post have already seen Brokeback Mountain (see Brokeback, 1 below) and am still waiting for the screenplay to arrive in the mail. Amazon said still 2 more wks to wait :'(

Took day off on wednesday & was going to take advantage of the Greater Union promotion & watch Rumour Has It then The Producers back to back, but changed my mind last minute and watched Memoirs of a Geisha instead (thus title of blog). With the general lack of nominations I think I'll be scratching The Producers from my 'to watch' list, unless none of the other 1s don't come off the 'no free ticket' list. Will see will see. Geisha - not bad. Never read the book, have no urge to do so. I can't put my head around Japanese women being so feministically forward. 'Cos in all the films/docos done on Japan it still looks like an extremely patriarchal society. It did, however, stir my interest in wanting to find 'Ah Sun' again. I think that would be a much more realistic story to be put on screen. It was, afterall, based on a true story.

Must get back to writing. Was going to spend wed arvo writing the intro & conclu to my chapter, but spent a big part of it in air-conditioned cinema/shopping centre/library instead before going home & watched Arrested Development S1 on DVD again. Was going to write at night, but too hot so watched Prison Break & LOST recap. @ work yesterday & LOST last night. Also spent too much time downloading games for BlackBerry. Must find way of changing background/screensaver.

To watch list update:

1. Capote
2. Munich
3. Producers, the (maybe)
   
4. Walk the Line
5. Jarhead (maybe)
   

Brokeback

Saw Brokeback Mountain on Aus Day (26 Jan for all 'foreigners'). It was not at all a bad movie. There were bits that I couldn't understand though, particularly that Heath Ledger's voice + accent. That combination just makes it so hard to understand what exactly he was trying to spit out! A bit of a thinking movie, so I found the short story online & read it late last night/early this morning. Not very long (thus the 'short' part of 'short story'. Nothing Harry Potter like), so even for a slow reader like me I finished it in an hr & a 1/2. Having now read the story, I can only say that the movie pales in comparison, even though the movie itself is quite a good one already. Highly recommend watching then reading in that particular order.

Other movies on the list, not necessarily in any order:

1. Capote
2. Memoirs of a Geisha
3. Munich
4. Producers, the
5. Walk the Line

Damn, I only got 1 free ticket! That means I'll have to shell out for the other 4!?!?!

Pigeon funeral II

Ok, I've had a better look this time. We were driving back from the other direction and I was on the passenger side so I really had a good look. The white fluffies were actually pigeons but cockatoos. They all somehow seemed smaller the other day.

Pigeon funeral

Unfortunately I was driving when I saw this, plus the fact that I didn't have a camera with me, so there isn't a picture for show & tell. But it was a pretty unusual site; well, at least unusual for me. I was on my way down to see Brokeback Mountain, & just ahead of the corner where I usually turn right there was a school of white pigeons standing on the other side of the road, looking right, towards a freshly squashed pigeon (white again. I'm pretty sure they weren't cockatoos since they were a bit small, so let's just call them pigeons). Next to the squashed pigeon there stood a galah, facing left towards all the other, still alive pigeons, as if giving a sermon or eulogy or something. I've never seen anything like that before. On my way back from seeing Brokeback there was still only 1 squashed pigeon, so I guess no more got run over. Wish I had a camera with me :(

BlackBerry 7230i

BlackBerry 7230i
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

Luv it! I was out searching for archiving boxes around Parramatta to re-file the WESTIR library when I came across the PDA display in OfficeWorks. After a bit of looking around & research I've finally decided to buy this BlackBerry 7230i. It doesn't do all the web search but I don't really need all those 'complicated' functions anyway. I wanted an organiser, & if it came with a phone (liek the BlackBerries) then even better! No camera, yes, but I don't think I'd ever want a camera on my phone. I need my photos to be of higher quality. But anyways, after playing with it for a good while last night & for some time today as well, it's just so gd with syncing with your PC/laptop, keeping track of appointments/deadlines, updating contacts, wkday/wkend alarms, reminders...... & of course you can send & receive emails from it also. Oh so loverly :)

Happy camper

Garnier goody bag
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

Day 1 of Aus Open 2006 & Rae & I bussed it up from Geelong to Melbourne early this morning & headed straight to the hotel on eastern end of Lonsdale to drop our bags before heading down to Melbourne Park. A bigger queue for tickets than I had expected, so we didn't actually get in until close to noon-ish (after an hr or so queueing). Pity neither of us had an AmEx otherwise we could've taken the Express Lane & got in ages quicker! And, rubbing salt to the wound, we found out we were missing out on more freebies just because we didn't have/use the products of the official sponsors (AmEx cardholders were entitled to complementary AO commentary radios & free freshly-squeezed juices all day long, while Optus customers could have their SIM card backed-up for free (for frequent phone losers) as well as enter daily draw for 3G mobiles whorth over a grand each!)!! After some loitering in & around Vodafone & Margaret Court Arenas watching some tennis matches, we lined up for the Garnier marquee to get the free goody bag. They also offer free hair styling/hand massage/mini facial, so of course the line was bloody long. We both eventually settled for the mini facials because a lot of ppl in front of us were holding out for the longer services. But definitely conned. That mini facial was so mini that it was just a dapple with a wet nap & quick massage with a get/cream from a small tub. It did the cooling that we so desperately craved in a humid day like today, but it was simply too short to be even called a mini. Ah well, I guess when they're free you can really complain! Plus, everyone gets a free goody bag that probably adds up to $40-$50, so that's the ticket price back plus more! Happy camper indeed :)

Hmm, mussels

Hmm, mussels
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

Geelong, Day 3. Well, Day 1 didn't really count seeing that we took a 5pm flight & arrived almost 6:30. The long weekend officially started on day 2 (Friday) when, after breakfast, Trish, Rae & I had a nice stroll up Pakington Street & did some light shopping. Rae & I diverted off to op shops & other funky locals, & I managed to find 2 (!!) Snoopy soft toys + 1 soft toy of Moomin. But the real highlight of Geelong was of course the freshly-cooked mussels off the pier. Not only were they freshly caught that very morning, they were also perfectly cooked on the spot as you order. 2 varieties, & I chose the white wine/garlic/parsley option (other being red wine/chilli). I don't know if it was the freshness, or just the setting (Eastern Beach), it was simply the most delicious mussels that I've ever tasted. And cheap too!! Only $5.50 for box of 16! Must have another go before heading to Melbourne on Monday.

Medibank International

Martina Hingis
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

Tuesday was our annual 'pilgrimage' to Homebush for the now renamed Medibank International. I wasn't planning on going, but after hearing that Hingis was attempting a comeback & that Sydney is one of the first stops, naturally I had no choice but to stalk her out (a bit). Busy packing at WESTIR all day Monday so had no idea that she lost (to Henin-Hardenne, which is not that big a surprise) in 1st Round until late arvo. We all thought that she'd go straight down to Melbourne & practise there instead, but to our surprise she stuck around & practiced, not once but twice on Tuesday!! We were there for about 7 hrs, & we spent probably more than 2 hours just watching her practice, taking photos & videos & of course seeking autographs. From memory I think hers this time is my first and only (thus far. Hopefully my Aus Open trip will change that) repeated autograph. All in all, the Syd tournament has really gone downhill a little bit. The atmosphere (along with the crowds) has gone a fair bit since they reduced the draw from 64 to 32, i.e. cutting out 1 Round. With new tournies popping up in Canberra & Hobart it is understandable that Tennis Aust would want a more even atendance, but Syd has suffered as a result. Maybe this time I'm really going to stay awya from it for a little bit before going again.

Flying down to Geelong this arvo. Rainy again today, but it looks like it'd be fine in Melbourne & surroundings. As long as it doesn't rain on Monday I'd be happy, cos that's the only day I have to go to the Aus Open. 1st repeat Grand Slam, & a 7-yr break. That's a big break. Must attempt to go more often :)

Must get back to writing. Looks like I'm a long way off from finishing Ch 4 by end of month with all the tennis-watching coming up. WESTIR is also relocating today so there'd be a fair bit of unpacking & cleaning up after I come back up north. Groomsman duties late April, so assistance & rehearsals before then. Busy busy.

Still sun-burnt from tues.

New Year's Day

Hot 1
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

Stupidly hot on New Year's Day. After a lovely afternoon at Vaucluse the day before (nice warm weather, cool sea breezes) New Year's Day was inextricably hot. By mid morning it was already well over 40'C outside, with the inside temp approaching the same mark. Our thermometer outside only reads up to 50, & by mid afternoon it was so hot that it exceeded the 50 mark. It wasn't much better inside. It went over 40'C for the first time inside (see below), even though we had all the fans cranking. Alas air-con didn't help much. I'm pretty sure it's at its dyign stage, seeing that 1 of the 2 fans was stationary even though we had it on high, & it didn't really get any cooler anyways. The only bit of significant cooling only came when the cooler night breeze finally came some time after 9pm. I, having spent the day drenched in sweat while watching Hopman Cup on TV & reading HP5 (finally started 5 on Boxing Day after finishing 4 almost FOUR years ago!!) at the same time, resorted to dunking myself into a nice, cool bath in the evening to bring my body temperature back down normal. Luckily yesterday (Jan 2) was signficantly cooler (mid 20s) & so is today (so far). Either way, am indoors in AC-ed office most of the day, so not that big a difference to me :P

Need to seriously put my head down & refocus on doing real work. Have given up on the BOCSAR job that I got interviewed for (have yet to hear about the outcomes, but not very likely a success I'm guessing) so now I can put most of the mental energy back to writing my chapters. Have not done any writing since early Dec, & have forced myself to finish the 1st draft by end of month, so must do some serious refocussing. Otherwise, looking forward to Geelong/Melbourne!!

Happy New year

Happy New Year everyone! 2005 has come & gone so fast, probably because I spent a big chunk of it travelling overseas as well as just burying my head into various things for short periods before & after I got back. It has most certainly been a very interesting year for me personally but at the same time unsettling. As I approach the end of my studying days, I must now contemplate on my new move(s). No more coasting by. But before all that, I've got an office relocation & a Geelong/Melbourne trip to look forward to!!

Let's have a quick recap since last blog. Xmas thingo @ the Mo's was kinda fun. Was not as hot as espected. Even a little cool towards the evening. Not as much food as last time either, but ended up being just the perfect portion. Since then I've been roasting at home, reading 20th Century Speeches & Harry Potter 5 (after a 4-yr break since last reading HP4) while watching the cricket. Today was spent seaside at Vaucluse, at Strickland House. Picniced from about 3-ish until the 9pm fireworks, before some continued partying back at the Dan/Will's. Scooted out of that after a little while & came back home drained & exhausted. Must sleep now to regain strength...

Seasons greetings

Kris Kringle
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

The silly season has finally arrived. After a long lunch with the Geog gang at the usual Giovanna's for a final hurrah (I think Dan was bitterly disappointed that Ian didn't retell (again) his nuuude story), we proceeded to the new Drozdzewski-Hills residence at Coogee to 1) perform our Kris Kringle duties; 2) admire the top floor view; 3) more drinking & eating, in no particular order. A good time was had by all, especially when not-so-big Kev gave an unforgettable performance of singing out sex advice, or when TK promptly proclaimed that she can't get a blow (from the flute that she got from Kris Kringle just to clarify). I of course stumpled (ok, walked. Just thought I'd add a bit of dramatics) out of there 8-ish to catach PT back to Pennant Hills for tennis/more party. Absolutely buggered by the time I got home.

Wednesday supposedly was going to be the day that I should've reserved for preparing for my thursday job interview (got the call tuesday just before lunch). Instead slept in late & spent most of the time before escaping the heat moving things & setting up the bug bombs. Had to escape the house while the bombs went off & so shopped at DFO (Country Road 1/2 off!) before spenting the rest of the day re-moving things back to where they belong & summer-cleaning them up at the same time. Did end up spending some of the night putting things together for the interview & re-read my application letter.

Ducked into WESTIR to pick up more samples of work before training into St James for interview (my new leather briefcase came in very handy). I knew that Anne's was before mine, but little did I know that Arvind K (from FBE) was the 1st of the morning at 9! So all 3 interviews were from the FBE in a way! Small world indeed. Nonetheless, both Anne & I agreed that BOCSAR didn't really have an idea of what the full extent of that mapping exercise would involve. I did ok, but Arvind would probably be the 1 getting the call. Afterall, my setting-up-database experience is not the best, though my actually mapping skills would probably compensate quite well. Anyhow, just waiting for more partying tomorrow & NYE before finally putting head back down to writing.

In the mean time, have finished reading Dorian Gray (excellent middle half, but otherwise quite ordinary. Don't know what the rave was all about) & have just started on Importance of Being Ernest. Have reserved my 20th Century Speeches book for the Melbourne/Geelong trip. Looking very much forward to that indeed.

Fish update: have expanded stock with a pair of navy-blue swordtails, a yellow spotted male guppy, & a bristlenose for cleaning. Hoping the new swordtail/guppy breedings will be successful. Must also find a way of sellingthe other swordtail/platy off-springs. Must enquire at local pet stores otherwise will run out of room again.

One finaly seasons greeting to everyone!

Festive season

The festive season has finally begun. Thursday was the last board meeting of the year, & as per usual we all go out for lunch together on WESTIR’s shout. It’s the usual Thai Pagoda restaurant east on Main St. 1 last hurrah I guess, seeing that we’re FINALLY moving out of Blacktown & down to Parramatta in mid Jan. So of course for the last little while everyone’s been busy culling & packing & organising for the relocation. It’s been frustrating & boring & dusty & fun at the same time. The next time I’m in will be the traditional xmas sit-down that we have to surprise the newbies, & this year it’s Kristine’s turn. It’d probably be my last as well. Had my scholarship extended so I won’t switch to PT. There’s no need for me to work more to keep up with my $$ habits :) Have also applied for a well-paid temp job at Bureau of Crime Stats & Research, so if I get that I’d probably just stick with that instead of working 2 jobs & still doing PhD full-time.

On brighter notes, more xmas parties coming up!! The traditional geog xmas lunch is this coming Tuesday, followed immediately by kris kringle/housewarming at Dan & Will’s new place. Somehow this coming Tuesday end up being a pretty jam packed day, with usual tennis thingy happening that same night, but also a small party-ish thing at Pennant Hills. Which means I have to leave Coogee 7-ish & train directly to Pennant Hills. Then comes xmas eve at the Mo’s. If their last xmas party was anything to go by I should simply skip breakfast & lunch & just wait for the big feast. Seriously, as if there was any chance that 16 people could’ve finished a 8-kilo ham, 4-kilo turkey, steaks, chick wings, noodles, various salads, AND various desserts! We gave it our best shot & ate from 11 (am) till 11 (pm) yet alas still tonnes of left over. The do this year starts at 4 so I’m envisaging a smaller turkey?

Looking forward to Geelong & Aus Open. Yes! The Swiss Miss is back!

Swelter shelter

Yet another working-at-home day wasted. The planned rewriting Wednesday never eventuated. Because of the sweltering heat, & continued lack of sleep I didn't actually end up getting up until 10. After a cool breakfast my tv-quarium has finally been re-populated via the trans-aquarium migration of my tropical fish. All's fine & well. Thinking of adding to a guppy male to accompany lone guppy female. Shall wait & see.

Finally succumbing to the sweltering heat of 35+, I ended up going to my swelter shelter - Castle Towers - & watched HP4. Not entirely enjoyable seeing that the cinema (& the rest of the shopping centre) was filled with wagging/schoolies-ing teenagers who never failed to annoy each other (but mostly me) with their vulger, juvenile antics (see below). Pity the movie wasn't as good as HP3 either, or maybe it was just the constant sounds of sniggerings and (subsequently smells of) juvenile farts. Still sweltering after going home 4:30-ish. Did not actually end up doing anything productive until 9:30-ish when started reading a journal article which probably won't get used in my re-write. Shall see how I go end of today in my heat-trap room. At least I'm air-conditioned at WESTIR...

Checklist

1. Finally paid back the Melbourne airfares. Now I'm only $162 poorer! So it's quite a good deal :)
2. Secret santa pressy completed bar foam in the box to minimise damage during transit. Must fix by tomorrow.
3. Housewarming present arrived (long ago). Custom-made wrapping paper photoed, adjusted, tiled, printed, merged & wrapped. Terrific. Note to self: must take picture of finished product.
4. Trish's thank-you present finished & approved bar nice box/pouch to put it in. Must do that before Melbourne.
5. WESTIR chrissy pressies done & custom-design paper wrapped. Boy I'm good.
6. Xmas menu: not yet started, even though it's only 1 dish. Must think of something easy that looks classy so to bolster cooking credential.
7. Writing of next chapter not yet started. Too much gd TV on tonight (yes, it's monday afterall). Work tomorrow night then tennis. May start wednesday if remember.
8. Repopulation of tv-quarium in preparation. Filter newly poured in water as we speak. Should be ready wednesday (ooh, will have to delay chapter writing then) for tropical relocation. Contemplating starting tropical breeding program. (Ha, nearly typed 'problem' instead!!) (dork!)
   
9. Chuck Beck's present (in the mail)
10. Stop (or at least pretend to stop) going xmas shopping & instead buying things for myself. All presents taken care of so time to stop spending (nearing 1k the last 5 days, ouch).
    

$300+ worth of outlet therapy

Oroton
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

After the celebratory lunch for Trish's final submit we stayed in the office doing various bits before I bolted about 3:30 down to the city as it looked like rain. I was planning on heading into city to do some xmas shopping anyways, so when I finally got down to ANZAC Parade to catch a bus, the 393 was waiting for me. So I ended up going to Central first (& thus Market City) before heading to Town Hall for Kathmandu. It turned out to be a therapy session that costed me a bit. As the title implies, it was more than $300, not including the airfares for the Melbourne tix that we just booked earlier that afternoon. While most of the $300+ went to this LOVELY Oroton leather briefcase ($299 after half-off. If I'm any dumber I'd think that I'd saved myself $300. But seeing that I'm not really that dumb, I actually spent $299 in order to save $300. Wait, does that mean I'm $1 better off???) I also invested into a Ken Done T-shirt (why did I say invest?), a knitted wool cap (no, not beanie. Cap) from General Pants, before finishing off with a compass and thermostat at Kathmandu. The train back to Blacktown was a bit of a long haul even though it was express already. Maybe it only felt long because it was peak traffic & I didn't have a seat & this woman keep hitting me with her (fake) snake/crocodile skin handbag every time she turns around. So she said sorry (once, after the first time), but is that really excuse for her to keep swinging her bag at me afterwards?? People are just so considerate ...

Melbourne bound

Ok, finally I'm Melbourne bound once again. After a 2-yr absence, I've just booked a short round trip to Melbourne for mid-Jan w/ Rae. We'll spend most of the time down at Geelong visiting Trish, but will of course squeeze in a day at the Aus Open. The 1st day of the tournament actually, & am going to get Centre Court tix this time. A short thurs-tues round trip, & I shall be back in time to play tennis that tues nite! What great organisation!

Must head down to city now to continue xmas shopping before heading home. Hopefully I can beat the looming downpour as well.

Oh crap, so much reading to bring home...

Fun & education

A long wkend of fun & education. Well, more fun than education. Well, that I call 'education' at least. So here's what happened.

Seeing that I'm totally unmotivated and uninspired to continue writing my chapters, I've given myself permission to take a short break. And anyways, my supervisor has yet to read to the last 2 sections that I sent him & consequently delayed our meeting for almost a wk. Perfect time for me to think about other stuff for a little while & completely tune out. So, was already taking Friday off, & with Season 1 of Arrested Development on DVD promptly arriving early that morning, I spent Thursday night watching the entire Disc 1, Friday morning the entire Disc 2, & late Friday night half of Disc 3, before finishing it off Staurday over lunch. In the mean time, I also managed to squeeze in 1 documentary, 3 movies (on disc), some cricket, more fish work (more new borns from different sunset platy. Must have close to 100 fish in that tiny tank now. Must relocate fish by end of yr, and hopefully stop them from breeding so frequently. Or maybe I should just sell the newbies? Anyways, food for thought for later), put up & decorated (fake) xmas tree, finished my crafty things for xmas tree, replanted some African violets, & then today, had a hair cut, more cricket, watched another movie (on disc again), finished off CV for new job application (by adding in 5 lines :P), and realised not having finished claim for pposition but can't be buggered to do so today & will do so tomorrow. It's gd to mix fun with education. Education how you ask. Well, all the movies (including doco) that i watched were rather mentally challenging/mind opening (take Mysterious Skin for example), so I will take that as social education. And tonight, I read the little excerpt of honours thesis that Kev (supervisor) gave me & will now need to go get 3 more references/books tomorrow at the library. So, yes, very educational. Now, back to TV :P

Engaged

Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

After many tries, have decided to give up on taking pic of Dan's engagement ring. Could never focus on the ring itself. Stupid camera. Anyhow, it was last wk that I actually took this photo, so y bring it up now? I sent this photo around a bit to 'concerned parties' & 1 comment that came back was that the rock doesn't look any bigger than the 1 that yours truly have (on paper/screen). So, just to validate, I've worn mine in today to compare. The woman of mytersy is MIA somewhere in the building/campus, so haven't yet had the chance. Will try & track her down before I head into the city for stuff.

On other totally unrelated news, my tropical tank is expanding quickly. Just before the demise of my tele-quarium (see Aug 1 & Oct 30 posts) my pair of Sunset mollies & the remaining red swordtail both hatched a fair amoount of fries. After some Darwinian competition, the remaining ones have now doubled ini size to almost 1cm. Just earlier on Monday, 1 of sunset mollies hatched yet another batch with the other about to do its 2md batch in the next few days. They've actually been hatching batches quite regularly since I've gotten them home some time in July, but because I've been able to catch them very early on these last couple of times most of the have survived the fate of being cannibalised. Soon I need to invest on a stronger heater so to move all the newbies to the cleaned-out tele-quarium.

Back to my CV now. Oooh, meeting.

Bored

Bored.

Finally finished editing my occasional paper for WESTIR. Boss not here, so can't shuff it down his throat & demand a 2nd read. Must wait. Other than that, no new projects. Have decided not to start on another occ paper until after move (which as far as I know it's mid Dec. But then again, it's WESTIR, so anything can happen really. We might never end up moving). Anyhow, boring couple of wks, thus the lack of postings. Well, boring couple of me anyways. It's all excitment elsewhere, particularly for 1 Drozdzewski, with her compoundment of apartment hunting and subsequent buying, dirty wkend, being proposed to (after constant nagging I might add), my missing of the celebration, etc etc etc. Must take revenge on my boredom by making others miserable. Plotting away.

Bored.

My situation at uni has yet to improve (last account was 1: got reviewed last wednesday with a ok, but 2: scholarship still not renewed by FBE so 3: drafting letter to demand reconsideration, thus 4: total lack of motivation to continue writing Chapter 5 (or anything else for that matter) which I said would finish by end of month). Spent end of last wk & wkend at home watching 30 Days & Fat Actress. Must strap myself down & do some writing, even if I don't want to. Ooh, Arrested Development is on sale at Sanity online...

Bored.

Might have to go to Melbourne unaccompanied with no one else free to go during the same period. Must try & think of somewhere else to go so I can use up the flight credits from my UA delay before they expire. 4 1/2 months to go.

Did I forget to mention that I am very bored?

$29 of Diva fever

Melb Cup
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

Ok, so this is actually my other ticket which of course didn't win. I mean, otherwise, why would I still have it? Wasn't going to blog the Melbourne Cup until I've cashed in the Diva ticket. Pretty gd returns I'd say, 5 place 5 win & got 29 back. Discounting the 5 & 5 I had on Vinnie Roe (what was I thinking betting on the Irish?) it's still a clear $9 profit. Good fun, good fun. Anyhow, so Makybe Diva is now retired. Now she can settle down for a quiet life. Pretty good going for an old girl with 3 Melbourne Cups on the trot (ha, trot). Magical! Anywho, too busy running around uni to actually participate in any, umm, 'festivities'. Am having a delayed drink tonite instead.

Toll

Night 1 - 4
Day 1 - the remaining 7

All of them have been given proper burial - toilet bowl & pastic bag in bin.

* sob sob *

Crafty wkend

Crafty wkend
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

These are the said giant 'paper clips' that I bought from BaySwiss yesterday. I proceeded to make them into a mobile (no phone, just mobile) becos I can't actually see myself clipping any paper to them things. Pretty cool mobile though, rite?

Anywhos, disturbing news. Spent a lazt saturday today to do various odd things, like making this mobile. There's the usualy laundry & others of course. I also tried moving the new, small fries (baby fishies) in the tropical tank into a plastic tube that I submerged. Alas, the holes that I poked were too large & they swam back out pretty quickly. So all the efforts that I went thru sucking them out with the shits & food scraps, separating them from the shits & food scraps & putting them back in were all for nothing. Have done up another plastic bottle with much smaller holes. Have yet to sight the fries again. Will try again tomorrow. After watching City of God while finishing the laundry (who knew it's so violent?!? Maybe I should've read the box before I bought it. I liked it still though) I stopped & looked at the fish. It was to my shock horror that there was a massize white-spot infestation happening at the big tank. Have applied medication now & I have no idea if any of the will make it. Oh crap. Have no idea what went wrong. They were still doing when I last fed them on Thurs. Already had a fight with dad about whether to tip them out now or keep them in the treatment (am keeping them all in). What a sullen end to the night :(

Passion | Flower

Passion | Flower
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

Yet another wkend is rolled by and a wk of procrastination it's time for some full-time fun & relaxation. Uni-ed on monday for some briefing on teaching, wrote some more of chapter & basically bummed around. Decided to stay home on tues instead to pend more time writing. Ending up doing only a couple of solid hours & some other hrs on & off. End result was pretty gd though. Work & work on wednesday & thursday & of course ended the days watching TV (last of the Miyasaki japanime on SBS, & 30 Days on Ten on thurs of course). Yesterday was some sort of a mixed day. Went in relatively early & stopped by library to pick up interlibrary loan. Ended up going to library for 2 more times by lunch time because of other references that keeps popping up (luckily after moving office it's a much shorter walk these days). Anyhow, was going to spend the day marking until Kaka suggested that we should lunch at the Royal. Up we went, & at the last minute I decided to pack up & leave for the day & head into city afterwards. So, no 'real' work done & proceeded to do shopping in/around Town Hall. Didn't get anything I had planned (bday present for Hendo, gd pants for me). Got big, funky, what they call 'paper clips' from BaySwiss though (see next blog). Dinner @ Wendy's & mahjongg. Must've been something about the dinner 'cos we were all pretty out of it during the mahjongg. Anyhow, getting to the pic. After a yr & a 1/4 the passion fruit plant that I got last yr as a bday present is finally flowering. Very pretty flowers. I don't actually eat passion fruit myself, but hey, at least i have pretty flowers to look at. The buds are all over the vines & there are already 2 fruits, which I guess should mature some time during the wk. Maybe try it. Or pass it/them onto parents as guinea pigs :P

Rather hazy

A rather hazy weekend. It started out quite early. Friday was Rae's rescheduled house-warming so I drove into uni early-ish (ok, it was 10am) and while I thought I would have a somewhat productive day before the night of drinking, dinner, and more drinking, it didn't end up happening that way. Kaka & TK were in also but they were heading down to the 'Gong for the day. Bumped into Danski on way to library, & was told that since kaka & TK were gone we'd be the 1s left on our own un-supervised. Great, 2 bored ppl who didn't particularly want to do the work they were doing but had to. So we spent a stupid day at the office, before deciding that we should bolt 4-ish, picked up Willis on the way & headed to Rae's @ Slurry. After a bit of dress up by the girls while the boys watched on, we dropped stuff off at kaka's before cabbing back to Slurry & met up for pre-dinner drinks. Fun, fun. Dinner was funner. It was Hannibal's on Elizabeth. Yes, Lebanese complete with belly dancers. Naturally I wasn't the 1 who went up to dance & embarass myself (that honour went to TK after the bellydancer very unsucessfully tried to bait Stevo). Anyhow, dinner went long & sore (laughed so hard my cheeks were hurting) & continued at the corner pub (more laughing so cheeks hurt more). Stevo had to leave early cos grandma is in hospital, so some of us carried on at the Coogee Palace. Loud dancy is really not my thing, so Rae & I decided to bolt 2-ish. Slept it off at Slurry for the night until woken by the glare 9-ish. Dazed around with a headache thanks to the vino from night before (should really limit my vino intake & get back onto the hard stuff. Never ad a hangover in my life while on the hard stuff). Decided to bolt the 1pm brunch (seriously, who has brunch at 1??) around 11-ish & went on to buy dog biscuits then Ikea before heading home. Too hung over to continue writing so shredded the fallen wattle & pruned bougainvillea instead (yeah, like loud shredding noises would help that cause). So no writing happened until this afternoon after yet another lazy sunday morning. Finally realised that I need to take more photos at Parramatta & Moore Park to add to the chapter (great, it's only going to be so raining this wk). Now I have to bring the camera to uni AGAIN tomorrow. Speaking of photos, must get wacky photos from TK so we can print & paste on our new dividers as our head shots...

More damn splinters!

What is it about me with splinters?? I simply can't seem to get away from those damn things lately! Here's the story:

I was trying my hand at propagating plants again this past sunday as I saw one of the bird's nest fern has kinda died down & grown into 4. I 'skillfully' cut the thing in half & successfully split it into 2 plants for 2 pots. Then I saw the lush growth of spores at the underside of leaves of the bigger bird's next, so I thought I'd do spore-propagating too. I mean, I've read it in books, so how hard can that be. Proved to be a painful lesson, & underline painful pls. As I proceeded to move the big pot of bird's next out from the corner so I could wipe some spores off, naturally a pot of cactus with giant spikes the size of toothpicks fell onto my hand. Despite their giant size, some of the mini titbits of the spikes broke off & got stuck in my hands. I managed to pry 3 of them out myself which required some cutting of my own skin (ouch No.2). But still 2 got wedged under my skin & tried & I tried, even until the wee small hours of 1am & still couldn't get them out. So, seeing that I needed to drive into uni for a briefing the following (monday) morning I thought i'd stop by the doctor's the have them taken out. While only a short wait until I got to go into the dr's office, she decided that I needed anesthetic on my thumb before butchering me open & get them splinters out! Not having anything against needles or injecting chemicals into my body I agreed. So out came the needle, which btw is not the smallest needles you can find (again, size of toothpicks), filled with anesthetic & she jabbed the thing into, not once but twice on either side of my right thumb! Now, for those who know the nerve system well (& I do 'cos I'm usually a nervous wreck :P) finger tips are bloody sensitive parts of our bodies. Having toothpick-size needles jabbed into them are no walk in the park. Still contemplating if the excruciating pain was worth having those splinters removed, which had by then made my thumb rather sore & swollen. Anyhow, as the anesthetics took effect, the 2 remaining splinters were cut out & removed. Just as the 2nd 1 was being removed, I guess either the anesthetic was starting to take full effects, or from lack of sleep, or on the unlikely situation (as the dr had suggested) that I don't do well with the sight of blood (hello, I cut my thumb myself just to get splinters out!!), I fainted for a couple of minutes. Lucky I was resting my hand on the bed anyway so I just moved smoothly on it & slept it off while they cleaned & bandaged my thumb into a ball of white. A quick stop at the dr's thus turned into an hr & a 1/2 drama. I was going to be given a tatitis shot or whatever it was that she ws going to jab into me but the dr suggested that the next day might be a better option. So I went back on tues morning & had the shot. I was warned that it would hurt a bit. While the jabbing in didn't really hurt, my right arm has been sore & feels kinda bruisy since. Great start to the wk & while the situations didn't deteriorate, it didn't improve either. At least parents are back & I don't have to be cooking & cleaning & etc etc etc. Might be a good time to write that chapter that I said I would do a couple of wks ago. Speaking of which,,,

Ooh, cricket's on!

Damn splinters!

Anorexic fish part 2

Damn, what's with the stupid fish!?! Last night I had the unfortunately displeasure of scooping out yet another fish that died from being anorexic. Can't they simply learn some humanity (and humility) and seek help from professional when they've got an illness or something? I mean, it's a large enough tank and large enough school of fish in there that if there's a cleaner and a show-off then I'm sure there'd be a shrink in there somewhere! If all else fails, they should just forget about the unpleasantness and get on with life. After all, they're goldfishes and we all know their short-term memories are, well, exceedingly short, so it shouldn't be hard at all for any of them to forget about unpleasantness. Unless they forget to eat, hmm...

Oh brighter notes, school holidays!! OK, so it doesn't usually apply to me whether it's school holidays or not, but seeing that I don't have teachings during hollies I don't have to take my long drives (and I do mean LONG drives) to uni. Which is just as well seeing that the Visa 8c off petrol @ wollies deal is over. I can save some $$ and time by ystaying at home and pretend to work instead of driving all the way to uni and pretend to do work there. But so far it's been reasonably productive - went shopping on sunday, pretended to do work at 'work' work yesterday, plenty of gardening today. I suppose I should buckle down and do my marking tomorrow and maybe even start on my re-writing which is due in a wk... Oh who am I kidding. The ticker-tape parade is friday so there'll be no work that day either! Yippy!!

WE WON! WE WON! WE WON!!!

SMH
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

SEVENTY-TWO long yrs of waiting and finally, FINALLY, the premiership is ours once more!!! Oh, too nerve wrecking this game was, but it just capped off a brilliant yr so well. Defined how we've scrapped and fought all te yr thru. Even though it's exciting to watch, but I think we should really do away with the last minute sncatching of the lead and just lead from start to finish from now on. Oh, how exciting. Next yr's home game will be so chockers... Oh, no time to worry about next yr when there's the ticker-tape parade somoe time next wk. I bet there'd be a million ppl lining the streets. Gd time to go to a 1st ticker-tape parade. Must watch wallet and don't overspend on merchandise...

Nice earrings!

B 104
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

Laundry day, & while I was getting the first load back from the lines, I decided that I should play a little trick on the dog. Yes, the old 'peck on the ear' trick. Normally he'd try & get them off as soon as I peck them on, but it's been a while since I've tried that trick & since then he's mellowed down quite a fair bit (no, he's not sick. The vet gave him a clean bill of health - & a credit card bill for me to pay - just this past wednesday), so I thought it was worth another try. One peck went on without much struggel, so I decided to do both sides. There were the initial scratch attempts, but that lasted no more than 5 secs before he gave me. They stayed on long enough for me to take tonnes on photo, for him to have a few naps, before finally snapping off a couple of hours later. Ahh, so much fun out of such a little thing. Should find more excitment outside of house...

Speaking of excitment, can't wait to watch the Swans win the Grand Final next saturday! I don't mean to jinx it or anything, but I do think we have a pretty gd advantage over the Eagles at the moment after the close game but only lost because of bad unpiring decisions 2 wks ago. Must have snacks ready for a LONG afternoon on yelling & screaming. I think chips are on the order to contribute to sore throat & laryngitis. :)

Four seats - Sydenham 2
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

A boring couple of wks. A few things have happened, but nothing too exciting to talk about. Apart from the fact that parents' been away for almost 2 wks now, & that instead of catching a ride to the train & get some shut eyes during those rides, I've had to drive long distances to get to uni. Even though I work on a limited schedule (i.e., don't go unless absolutely have to), they are still rather long drives. It's a lose-lose game I reckon. I either have to get up really REALLY early to beat the morning peak & get a parking spot close enough, or sleep in to avoid the morning peak & get a spopt far, far away. No surprise on what I'd choose (& have chosen thus far, & will probably continue to choose :>) At least I also get to sleep in on my non-uni, non-work days. Not that I don't do any work while at home. Speaking of which, should probably do more reading tonight...

Ok, so let's get onto this stupid photo. I don't really have anything particular to say about it really, except that I took it yesterday in Sydneham while out on fieldtrip with the 1st yr class. It was not a particularly fun or boring day, just early. Ok, I'll move on to the next photo now.

Anorexic fish

It has come to my attention today that unfortunately one of my goldfish is suffering from anorexia. No, it's not a clinical diagnosis as I don't think there are really any vets who treats fish, but more from 'experienced' observations. Afterall, I've kept fish for many a years. And anyways, the fish is so skin-on-bone that anyone can tell it's been without food for extended period (sorry, no fotos. If I have any they wouldn't be very appetising either. Hah, appetising). It's not that I have been neglecting the tv-aquarium while keeping daily watch on the tropical tank, looking at the colours of the fish (and now more frequently and inadvertantly algae on the glass, must clean again), incessantly looking for the newborns (second 'batch' was born last friday, about 3 wks after the 1st. From different mothers of course. Don't know if they survived well 'cos I haven't been able to see the new newborns since. Although, the old newborns went missing for days before finally reappearing, apparently hiding under the pebbles, plastic fake shipwreck, & big giant shell. Oh wait, why am I on fish again? Oh, ok, anorexic. Neglect. Ok.) Well, no, I havne't been neglecting the TV-aquairum in favour of the tropical tank. I've been feeding and cleaning as per normal routine. But for some reason I spent extra minutes just staring at the tank today. Maybe it's because it's due for another clean yet the water's still so clear. But anyways, that is when I noticed the little one looking anorexic. It was feeding day too, so fed as per normal portions. While the others (many of whom have grown to become fatsos in the process) the little one remained uninterested, even if the dried food or blood worms hit it right in the face. Maybe I should put it in solitary confinement for some psychiatric treatment? Will see, will see. But yeah, so now you know. Even fish can be anorexic. Wonder what happens if they become bulimic?

So comfortable...

PG lounge
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

I found out this Wednesday that the safas to our PG area arrived. For how long they'd been there I don't know, but it couldn't have been more than a few days seeing that I passed by that spot late last wk & there was nothing there. Nothin'. Anywho, they are soft & quite comfortable. Kylie (BEES PG) said that it's a crime to have them there 'cos no one will be able to get any work done from now on. Must plot to make gd use of them for the party we're supposedly having...

Highs and lows

Realised I haven't blogged in over a wk, so I suppose I should post something, even just for the sake of posting. Thought about it hard (ok, not that hard) about what actually to post, before settling down on this sort of non-descript title. It's been quite high and low in many senses. The Swans are flying high, and on track to be back into the Grand Final for the 1st time since '96; us on the verge of losing the Ashes, 1st time in 18 yrs (that can only be the lowest of lows); but then again, August is coming to an end, which can only mean my 2nd yr teaching is over and done with & I can get back to a normaler (normaler? more normal?) life/balance of uni & work. Not that I hated teaching 2nd yr. Both 1st & 2nd yrs have been quite enjoyable. But rather than spending most of my uni time doing one thing or another for the different teachings, I can now actually proscrastinate & pretend to do PhD related stuff & get the bugger finished quickly! Oh crap, there's the marking to come...!??!!

On brighter notes, it looks like WESTIR is finally moving out of the dumps of Blacktown & down to the metropole of Parramatta. Better still, it's right around the corner from where dad works - it's not even 3 minutes walk from the car park! I can only wonder if I'll ever drive again! Ok, so I will. I'm pretty sure of that. And anyways, the move (if it eventuates this time) is not going to happen until November, so there are still some more months at dear Blacktown.

Was in Audrey craving last nite, so watched My Fair Lady in almost its entirety until midnight (skipped thru most of Alfred P. Doolittle. For some reason unbeknownst to me I just don't like those scenes). Still listening to soundtrack. Maybe I'll switch to Thirsty Merc tomorrow...

Getting sleepy as I count the cost of my latest spendings - 7th pair of shoes for the yr; garden mulcher; CD storage; retro wares from op shops... zzz ... ... ZZZ ... ...

After

Mountain of boxes
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

Finally, a picture of the aftermath of the FBE-BEES office move. This is the view from my corner. This lovely terrain can also be spotted from Steve's, Karin's, Claudette's, and over the dividers, Therese's and Karen's. OK, basically from everyone's except Rae's (she's in the corner & has turned the back on us. Well, has her back to us/mountain at least)

A farewell to arm(chairs)

Farewell to FBE
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

So the move finally happened last friday. For now, everyone is trying to deal with the aftermath of the move (should take pic of the mountain of boxes) & settling themselves in. But, but in between of all the packing & trucking & unpacking & furniture moving, we managed to squeeze in a little bit of drinking & cake. It was a condensed celebration really, seeing that we tried to make it a farewell to FBE plus my bday (very belated), Chris(bobby)'s bday (not as nelated), Anu's birthday (again, not so belated), and Rae's bday (a little early for this 1). The turnout was reasonably sizable, so we managed to scoff down the whole of 2 cakes in an hr. An unexpected surprise when those who knew the geographers presented us with a goody bag of, well, goodies! So now we will have to reciprocate & throw an office warming party. Hmm, when would be a gd time for that... Thinking cap back on.

Mystery of the missing thesis, solved

For long, some at the FBE (particular some geog staff & students) have been wondering the whereabouts of one bounded copy of a missing thesis - mine! From the time it was noticed missing (probably 2 yrs ago, if not longer) no one had seen the bounded (bounded only, not gagged, presumably) one, much less caressed, sniffed, or whatever that you can do to one bounded book. Out of curiosity this afternoon, I started looking around the BEES (for non-UNSW-er, BEES is now my new home. I've been booted (not quite forcibly removed) from the FBE and gone onto the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Science) website. 'Twas this drive of curiosity that drove me to look at a link that took me to the Geography Honours Thesis roll. It was of course no surprise to see some familiar names - Rayner, Robinson, etc. After all, Rayner did study fish habitat (or something like that) and Robbo looked at sustainable housing (or something to that extent). Shock horror came when I saw my OWN name in that list of physical studies!?!?! And mine didn't even look anything like physical!?!?! Anyways, now that it's been located, I might find a time and take it back, by stealth of course. Now, how do I get into 508...

Before & during

BEFORE

DURING

Stay tuned for 'after' photos...

Da move

Da move
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

Finally, the big day has come. Geography's day at the FBE (for the PGs at least) are finally over. On one chilly friday morning, the UNSW porters came and picked up our lives in boxes, bookcases and filing cabinets, and trucked everything up to our new home - Samuels basement. Ok, so I've lost my fantastic view of 2 walls at a corner, trading that in instead for a smaller, but more communal office. Let's hope that the list of disruptions come to an end soon (move, reorganising, reconnecting networks, Pierrick's welcome back, Pierrick's farewell, farewell to FBE, birthday parties, Gibbo's farewell, etc) and everyone can get back to their work. I know I need to!

TV-aquarium

TV-aquarium
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

For those who haven't seen. Apologies for the bad photo quality. Can never seem to photo this right...

Fishy business

Tropical tank
Originally uploaded by ragde2507.

Tank complete! Ok, so it was after yet another failed attempt of neons & danios before settling on the platys, but the tropical tank is alive again. I really shouldn't be filling the house with all these things seeing that I've taken on quite a few this Session, meaning that I'd have less time for house things. But, simply couldn't help myself. Not a very good picture of the tank, yes, I know. & the fishies are hiding a bit (forgive them, they're new to this point-&-shoot business. They are no game fish after all. Not that those would be alive enough to be tanked). It is of course where the old fish bowl used to be. That spot had been left empty since the goldfish moved into the TV (for those who haven't seen, in person or otherwise, see next blog).

Time for sleep. 1st day of teaching tomorrow arvo.

Hmm, damn good yogurt cake...