Timewasting

I always come into to the library intending to do important stuff (stuff that I want to do) with my "internet time", but often it doesn't happen. Sometimes, yes, I do the things I want to do, others like tonight I end up wasting the better part of 1.5 hours on facebook. Or in other similiar time sinks.

I dunno... maybe it's something I have to work on. I've been getting better at transforming unsupportive/ineffective habits in other areas of my life. Slowly (sometimes very slowly) but surely I am making progress. So maybe it's time to work on this one.

Wanted:

1x new job.
Library or bookshop or company who's aims I support (eg organic cafe) or tutoring or...? Paying more than $20/hr. Something that utilises my talents and/or my uni degree.

1x new place to live.
Ideally I'd like to meet someone/s to share with (quiet, friendly, responsible, non-smoker) and then find a nice place near UWA. Or failing that I'd like to find a large room in a quiet non-smoking share house. Up to $150/wk ($160 if bills are included).


Also wanted :-P
1x the ability to eat dairy products again (without feeling terrible afterwards)
1x someone else doing the cooking and washing up 1 night/week
lots x self discipline to eat less junk food
lots x self discipline to stick to complete the tasks I plan for each day
more x motivation for honours
3x extra hours in the day or 1x better time management skills


Even though this post may not reflect this, all in all I'm actually quite good this week - so far, at least.

Perth Writers Festival - a (rather long) snapshot

This post is a work in progress.

Let me start by saying that I was very impressed by the Perth Writers Festival. When I decided to go, I wasn't quite sure what to expect - texts and discussions as sleep-inducing and difficult to get through as that which I was subjected to (for the most part) in English and English lit at school. Or people as entertaining as Terry Pratchett and conversations as interesting and educational as the book I'm constantly raving about: Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.

I'm pleased to annouce it was most definitely the latter. Writers, poets and illustrators seem to be almost universally funny and entertaining in person as well as brilliantly talented on the page or when performing. sigh... Jealous, me? no, of course not... ok maybe just a little. But they were all so likable as well that you couldn't possibly resent them for it.

The other great thing about the Perth Writers Festival was that so many of the sessions were free which is very important to a student like me. I paid $10 to go to "Spotlight on Tim Harford", and that was it for the whole weekend. I did have to resist, with some difficulty, the temptation to buy books. Lots of books. Every session I went to I came out with another book (or two, or three...) added my list of books to read. But libraries are wonderful things and I am not allowing myself to start my own one just yet. I'd have nowhere to put it for one thing.

It opened my eyes to so many new things. Poetry slam. Ghost writing. Gastro-porn. The economics of speed dating and rational crime. Going to bed with a poem. And so much more...

I want to put down a bit more including memorable quotes and a list of the sessions I went to and what was great about each of them, but I have to go in a few minutes. So I'm just going to list all the books I now have to read as a result of going to the Perth Writers Festival. (some of them aren't books, and some you don't exactly read, but anyway...)

In no particular order:
Chasing Bohemia: A year of living recklessly in Rio de Janeiro (Carmen Michael)
*www.chocolateandzucchini.com (Clotilde Dusoulier)*
*The Undercover Economist (Tim Harford)*
The Logic of Life (ditto)
Touquoise (Greg and Lucy Malouf)
The Science of Happiness (Stephan Klein)
The Secret Pulse of Time (ditto)
*Everything Shaun Tan has illustrated.*
To Die For (Stephen Downs)
Paris on a Plate (ditto)
UFO - Unavoidable Family Outings (Cartoon Dave)
Does My Head Look Big in This? (Randa Abdel-Fattah)
Ten Things I Hate About Me (ditto)
*Miles Merrill's dvds and cds*
*And anything Vivienne Glance has done*

I'm sure there was more, but I can't think of anything else at the moment.

omg... a play by Terry Pratchett!

Mum and I went last night. I highly recommend it. I am a huge Pratchett fan, but even if you're not, I still recommend it.

In fact it was a great adaption of one of my favourite Pratchett books. Initially I had to adjust to the actors not always matching my mental pictures of the characters and of course they had to leave some bits out, but it worked - and if you weren't very familiar with the book (I had re-read it for the 3rd or 4th only a month ago) you probably wouldn't have noticed.

Outstanding mentions:
Miss Dearheart, Adora Belle Dearheart (not a funny name), was spot on. Excellent characterisation.
Stanley. Stanley was even more "Stanley-like" than the character in the book. If that's possible. He/she was brilliant (a girl played the part of the boy) and hilarious.

The whole thing was very funny actually and I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Rant

I hate people who have long conversations with their friends in the library. Especially when they're library staff members and they pretend that it won't bother anyone else because they're half whispering but you can still hear them half way across the room. Staff at least should know better. I had better things to do with my evening than get pissed off at stupid library people.

And I guess I'm also annoyed with myself for not speaking out and saying something.

National Sorry Day

I am sorry for what we did.

I am sorry that it's taken us so long to apologise.

I am saddened that there are so many people who see saying sorry as wrong.

I am proud of the Rudd government for having the courage to make this move.

Thanks Kevin. I commend you.

(and the rest of them that supported this too)



"Today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.

We reflect on their past mistreatment.

We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were stolen generations - this blemished chapter in our nation's history.

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.

We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.

For the pain, suffering and hurt of these stolen generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.

To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.

And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.

We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.

For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.

A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.

A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.

A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.

A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.

A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia."

Why the new blog?

This is going to be a long post and I probably won't get through it all today. Especially as I have to go home and cook dinner in around 20 mins. But I'll come back and continue adding to it later.

So the question is...
Why the new blog? I had a perfectly serviceable blog across the road (so to speak) at livejournal.com, why did I feel the need to chuck that all in and start afresh?

In a nutshell the answer is I feel I've outgrown my old blog. Like a pair of old shoes that have grown too small, I don't find it comfortable to walk around in anymore.

I've changed a lot since I first started my LJ (livejournal). A huge amount in just the past 2 years. And after thinking about it for a while I've decided I want a blog that better reflects who I am today. Not the person I use to be back then - 3 or so years ago.

So that's the short answer.

So, this is goodbye

I have decided to give up (ballroom) dancing for a while.

This hurts because I love dancing and I don't want to give it up. But I need to get over my tendency to get depressed if I sit out too many dances unwilling, before I go back again. I've tried to change my reaction, tried to not get upset, tried to do things differently... but there doesn't seem anything I can do to change it on my own. This problem continues to haunt me - from as often as twice a week to as infrequently as once in a blue moon. I think it's been an issue for me since back when I first started salsa around 3 - 4 years ago. Actually it was one of the (several) reasons I gave up salsa. I thought Gilks was different - and it is, I don't have the other reasons I gave up salsa this time round - but not in this regard.

It seems to occur more frequently recently, these past few months. To such an extent that the bad has started to outweigh the good. Hence my decision to stop going to dancing for a while.

I'll go back once I've sorted it out - could be a week, could be 6 months, I don't know.

Until then, goodbye. I'll miss you

Facebook

I have finally caved into the facebook beast. It's worrying.

You can find me here

mmm... food!

Experimented a bit in the kitchen on my day off yesterday and was very happy with the results. Restaurant quality if I do say so myself. At lunchtime I made up a variation on Bruchetta with added grilled eggplant and zucchini. Very yum. Then for dinner I made honey mustard potato salad - recipe adapted from the one in those Feel Good Food brochures that are floating around in the supermarkets at the moment. Was also very good.

Got to go do stuff now so I'll posted the recipes later.

Book Recs

I'll go into them more later with detailed reviews and all that, but for now I'd like to start off this new blog by recommending several books that have really impacted me recently.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - A year of food life
Barbara Kingsolver with Stephen L. Hobb and Camille Kingsolver
At times laugh-out-loud funny, at others confrontational, but always entertaining and informative, I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone.

Conversations with God - Book 1
Neale Donald Walsch
For everyone - regardless of religious beliefs or lack there of.