1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
Uhm. Sex comes to mind. Plus, I guess, attending uni and all that entails, working at the hostel and all that entails. But if we have to be specific, I’m gonna go with the sex :P
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Heh. I just looked through some old scribbly notes, and some of my resolutions last year included: Don’t Nag DW, Speak More Articulately about Your Feelings, Keep Track of Where You Spend Money, Have Open Body Language (?). I’m gonna go with a success on the first, and a work-in-progress on the second, a 'meh' on the third, and an overly-self-aware shrug on the fourth. I'm sure I'll have resolutions this year too, although they haven't been completely formulated yet. That'll be a January job ;)
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
A girl who I was friends at school with did. Seeing as how my only contact with her has been through facebook, however, 'close' is maybe a bit too strong.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Closer to other people than to me. A family friend. DW's Oma.
5. What countries did you visit?
Only my own =)
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Ooh. Hm. I'm lucky in life. So the true answer is that I just want to hold onto all the good things in 2009... health and happiness, both my own and of those who I love... good friends, a good relationship with a wonderful guy, fulfilment in study, work, and personal pursuits. If I have to give a non-cliche answer, maybe I'd go with being always content with the balance between the last three.
7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
...None?
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Actually... I'd have to say I'm pretty proud of doing well at uni. Two high distinctions in first year law, booyah.
9. What was your biggest failure?
First thing that comes to mind was crying after (well, not right after) my new boss told me he thought I would have been better, way back at the start of the year. A bad day maybe, but come on. So I'd say my biggest failure was not dealing with (temporary!) failure.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing extreme =)
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Ooh. Hm. Seriously, I don't know. Were there any presents that went particularly appreciated? Awesome clothing buys? Thrifty gadgets? I don't think there were any thrifty gadgets. Pass.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My handsome Chinese colleague's, for being a perfect gentleman on many uncelebrated occasions. My former nut-shop boss, who began as manager at a new store a good twenty years younger than the old shop stalwarts and was incredibly tactful, good-humoured and diplomatic for the time that she was there.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Two buddies from school who reportedly came to DWs birthday celebration so they could feel 'better than everyone else'. Wtf? I know the joke is on them because it is the fact that nobody really likes them anymore that has led to all this bitter kicked-dog behaviour, which then leads to them being avoided even more... and of course they were the ones who had nothing better to do with a Saturday night than go to a party with people they don't like. I mean, who is the loser here? But neverthless, the whole scenario, including the fact that they were both once very good friends of mine, leads to me feeling appalled and depressed.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Probably food and clothes.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Booking a trip to Turkey, which then became a trip to Borneo.
16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
A bit hard to say without retrospect, isn't it? Like what if one song continues to be a hit into 2009 and 2010 while another fades away, only ever to be thought if in association with this year? Just for shits and giggles, I'll go with 'Kissed a Girl', by Katy Perry, for a pop culture reference, and 'I Got the Way' by Kate Miller Heidke for a personal reference, because even though it may not have been released in 2008, I only listened to it this year. And, while others on her Little Eve album (like Mama and Little Adam) may last as favourites, that song wasn't all that awesome, so will probably only remind me of the time when I had that CD in the car. Also, the references to rearranging your life and finding the right, well, 'way' have been particularly pertinent to the first year navigated without the structure of school. So it has a kind of real meaning too.
...Um, ok, overzealous answer much?
(Speaking of things that remind you of other things, use of the word 'zealous' always reminds me of playing this personality-quiz maze computer game that would ask you questions and give you a list of adjectives describing you when you finished the maze. I may have been described as zealous.)
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:a) happier or sadder?b) thinner or fatter?c) richer or poorer?
a) I'm pretty content now, but I imagine last year I may have been happier in a more... exuberant fashion... what with the end of year 12 and the year ahead being much less easily imaginable.
b) No idea, really, but I feel kind of fat now after the consumption of many Christmas chocolates =P
c) Richer, I'd say.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
I probably should have done more with uni aquaintances in breaks and whatnot, in order to make more friends. Dashing off to do something really un-urgent, like going to the library or getting lunch by myself, is so me. Um... and maybe more running. And more watching of worthy movies. Maybe next year I should gather up all the people who I chat to casually in tutorials and enforce some sort of weekly communal jogging-cum-film-watching session. Yeah, that'd work.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Work? In the retail-drone sense, not in the uni sense.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
One side of the family came over for a casual barbeque, the other side were visited for a more keyed-up fancy we-made-all-the-food-green-and-red-and-now-we're-going-to-sing-carols thing. On Christmas Day itself we had lunch at the house of relatives on the former-mentioned family side.
21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
Only more so =P
22. What was your favorite TV program?
Gotta go with Scrubs on DVD.
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Nah, I don't really do hate.
24. What was the best book you read?
Hm... Recently, I really liked 'Joe, the Only Boy in The World', a philosophical discussion of what it means to be human as written by the father of an autistic boy. I can't really remember what I read further back. Was 'The Time Traveller's Wife' this year or last year? It gets an honourable mention anyway. I guess I was introduced to a few classics at uni if we're going to go for an objective best, of which my favourite was probably Camus' 'The Outsider'.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
DeVotchka, or Vampire Weekend.
26. What did you want and get?
The job at the hostel. Some Christmas stuff, I guess.
27. What did you want and not get?
Well, I haven't got around to spending the money on an 8g Ipod yet. I'm waiting until I really have the time to tinker with labelling songs and creating playlists. However, I seem to have the time to write a post full of blah blah like this, so maybe I should get onto that.
28. What was your favorite film of this year?
I... dunno. Gosh, if I'm so bad with slicing up the blur of the past into '2008' and 'everything else' when I'm this age, hows it going to be when a few more decades add up? Let's see, David gave me The Green Mile for Christmas last year, so chances are I probably watched it in 2008. Lets go with that. Because I don't think I saw anything really noteworthy at the cinemas.
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was nineteen, and I didn't do a lot, really, because I was too apathetic beforehand to organise a party. OMG AGAIN WITH THE MIDDLE AGED RESPONSE. How sad, I have entered the stage where birthdays are a once-a-decade-or-so celebration. Be it known that next year I will rebel against this trend, and have a killer 20th! To be fair, I did spend time with lovely friends and family and boyfriend, just not all at once, and there were negligible amounts of alcohol. For shame.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I can't speculate on something like that. My year was plenty safisfying.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Well according to a male buddy, in winter I wore skirts, tights, boots, and the colours blue and purple predictably often. Maybe I still had some private school nostalgia. Or not. "No longer restricted to her school uniform, skinny pale chick swaps below-the-knee for minis, Clarks lace-ups for heels, and a school blazer for a fitted jacket!" Woot.
32. What kept you sane?
I'm gonna go with DW?
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Ooh. Obama =P
34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Well, some US states nullifying the same sex marriages which they had previously allowed... that kinda sucked.
35. Who did you miss?
There were times when I missed some acquaintances and teachers from school, I guess. But the good friends were always around for the seeing.
36. Who was the best new person you met?
I'm getting tired of this quiz now, which is a shame because I feel I'm going to do the best new person I met an injustice and be all 'meh' about them. Probably one of the people from the hostel, or maybe the stand-out new uni friend.
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
So close to the end, and this hardcore question? Life lessons are best slowly absorbed, leaking through the paper towel of your outer being until you are all soaked through with said lesson but you couldn't have picked the point at which you went from being mostly dry to mostly wet. Not put in a little carefully-labelled capsule and swallowed whole.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
See question #16 =P "I've been busy rearranging/Where I get off and where I get on..."
Another Kate Miller-Heidke: "My favourite place is me and you." (Naw.)
Note: I am not normally this KMH obsessed. Nor do I think of myself so much in relation to school. Ah well. Here's to another year.
(And to one with a pretty number. 09 has a much nicer mental aesthetic than 08, and is certainly better than the clinical 2010. What a pity that seven eight nine.)
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
A very retail Christmas to you and to you
Another Christmas Eve at the nut shop, another dud Christmas shirt. When grabbing one off the rack at Cheap as Chips I guess I was too distracted by ensuring that it was a tolerable colour (black... red and white aren't really *my thing*, yanow) and a decent size (i.e. somewhere in between kidswear and tent) to notice that a bulging cartoon thermometer isn't the best thing to have in vicinity of the word 'naughty'. Oh dear.
Its the time of year where we decide which of the 'newies' we want to keep on after their stints as Christmas casuals. One girl first struck me as very outgoing, confident with customers, chatty, etc. I liked her. However, conversations behind boxes in the back room have revealed that I am perhaps the only one of that opinion, and that in fact many people have indicated to the manager that they 'won't work with her' as they find her incredibly grating and annoying. Attempts to convince me first seemed like outraged gibberish. "Have you seen the way she stands? Yes, exactly like that! With her hands on her hips! And she does this and this - " "And the way she leans on the counter..." "I showed [other new girl] how to change an EFTPOS roll and she kept just looking! And now she'll probably think she knows how to change it too!"
THE HORROR! EFTPOS ROLL INITIATIVE!
Having said that, I can understand some reservations. While I think it's a little bitter to stop potentially valuable people working because they seem too good too early, or some such, it is true that you need a degree of... compliance... when you're new at a job. When we say jump you say how high! When we say fill you say how full! Etc.
Anyway, we have these stickers that say 'I made the biggest sale today!' and this girl decided to take one for herself. "Was mine the biggest sale? If not, I'll just write 'second biggest' on there! BAHAHAHA..." Apparently she actually did this when somebody 'overtook' her sale. Whatever. (I'm sorry, this anecdote seems to have been bogged in backstory, like a hiker caught in quicksand). A while later I'm on my break, eating a pretzel at the back room table, when I hear the pissed-off voice of another staff member, who is the manager's daughter and the biggest detractor of this new girl. "A second-biggest sale does not exist," I hear her saying, the frost of her statement practically seeping under the back room door. "Whatsoever!"
Buh... um. Point taken, these stickers shall not be donned lightly! But... this staff member was adamant even later on that there was no such thing as a second-biggest sale. There... kinda is. I mean. If we're being technical, here.
PET HATES OF NUT SHOP
Customers who don't get that two products may be different prices. "These are the same price, so can you mix them together?"
"Actually, they're different prices," (said politely) "But I can still mix them together for you..." (proceeds to weigh out separately.)
"No, they're the same price."
"Well actually they're not -"
"They're both seven dollar bags."
"Um, one is seven dollars for 250 grams, the other one is seven dollars for 210 grams, you see? They're a different kilo price. But thats ok! I can still mix them together."
The fact that it is a months-long process to get a shirt in another size, and even then it seems I only have a choice of short and square or long and rectangular. You'd think, being in a job involving much bending and squatting, they'd make a blouse that didn't expose half your back every time you dug a scoop from a lower display... but no. After many buttons fell off my old shirt I ended up with a super large one, and without the curves to carry it off I resemble an orange tent in my work uniform. However, I guess it has the pleasant rare bonus of everyone exclaiming with surprise over my figure when I come into work out of uniform as if they'd forgotten I had a a torso under there.
The family-oriented staff team can be quite bitchy and cliquey.
Customers who think they're really funny. "It says grab a bag, does that mean I can grab it and not pay? Nyuh nyuh nyuh. See darl, grab a bag. Hah."
Despite the fact that there are many undesirable customers, some staff bitch about customers who really aren't that bad. In fact, the main problem may be that they're Asian.
Customers who can clearly speak fluent English, but just jab at displays instead of reading the labels on there. Um, there's a curved wall and a bunch of products between your finger and my line of sight. A little clearer, please? I guess there are probably more illiterate among us than I'd realise, but. Come on.
"That one."
"The dry-roasted mix?"
"No, that one."
*Leans exaggeratedly over counter to crane at where customer is pointing* "The... unsalted millionaires mix?"
*Jabs harder* "THAT ONE."
"I'm sorry, I can't see from this side - second one along?"
"THAT ONE. The... the MIX."
Gah. Even if you can't read, use some bloody communication. The one in the bottom corner? The one with all the peanuts? I get way more irritated by English speakers who can't communicate than I do at ethnic sorts.
THINGS I LIKE ABOUT THE NUT SHOP
It's easy to roster time off.
Being part of a 'team' does has something going for it, at Christmas at least. The hostel is good in other ways (gee, maybe next post I'll do a comparable list! Won't that be exciting!) but being part of a group can be sort of nice. Sometimes you want to be a cog in a big established machine rather than an eccentric doo-hickey that you can wind up to totter along by itself. (Um).
For the most part, customer requests are simple and easily fulfilled. This is an overlooked good point. Also, even the most annoying customer? They leave. Could you imagine if they lived in the shop, and on top dealing with all their requests and concerns you also had to collect their rent, except they had no money, and they were waiting for Centrelink on Tuesday, and maybe you could kick them out but they have nowhere to go and they'd live in the car but its raining and the wife's got the flu, gee maybe they could do some work in lieu of payment but then they leave and don't do that and then they come back breathing their smoke in your face and getting up close with their grotty teeth and saying that they want to sort out the payment, like didn't we already DO that, I believe there are still bathroom tiles needing to be scrubbed which you dodged out of, IN A SYSTEM WE WORKED OUT TO KEEP A ROOF OVER YOUR HEAD, so maybe they could rock up to work if they're not going to pay, and then you can't get stroppy with them because they've befriended other staff always want to speak to someone 'higher' and of course they're going to pay, otherwise why would they have come back? Do you think they're a bad type or summink?
Uh.
I think I've spent too much time at work these last few weeks. At work, or at Christmas 'do's'. This post is clearly deteriorating. I don't mind either job at all, and I do like seeing family and friends as well, of course, but you know. A girl needs a little hermit time every once in a while. On that note, you can't just sit rambling away your thoughts forever. Boyfriends are coming over soon, gifts are to be exchanged, and somebody made a calender appointment on my phone with 'location: DW's pants'.
Merry Christmas. Seriously =)
Its the time of year where we decide which of the 'newies' we want to keep on after their stints as Christmas casuals. One girl first struck me as very outgoing, confident with customers, chatty, etc. I liked her. However, conversations behind boxes in the back room have revealed that I am perhaps the only one of that opinion, and that in fact many people have indicated to the manager that they 'won't work with her' as they find her incredibly grating and annoying. Attempts to convince me first seemed like outraged gibberish. "Have you seen the way she stands? Yes, exactly like that! With her hands on her hips! And she does this and this - " "And the way she leans on the counter..." "I showed [other new girl] how to change an EFTPOS roll and she kept just looking! And now she'll probably think she knows how to change it too!"
THE HORROR! EFTPOS ROLL INITIATIVE!
Having said that, I can understand some reservations. While I think it's a little bitter to stop potentially valuable people working because they seem too good too early, or some such, it is true that you need a degree of... compliance... when you're new at a job. When we say jump you say how high! When we say fill you say how full! Etc.
Anyway, we have these stickers that say 'I made the biggest sale today!' and this girl decided to take one for herself. "Was mine the biggest sale? If not, I'll just write 'second biggest' on there! BAHAHAHA..." Apparently she actually did this when somebody 'overtook' her sale. Whatever. (I'm sorry, this anecdote seems to have been bogged in backstory, like a hiker caught in quicksand). A while later I'm on my break, eating a pretzel at the back room table, when I hear the pissed-off voice of another staff member, who is the manager's daughter and the biggest detractor of this new girl. "A second-biggest sale does not exist," I hear her saying, the frost of her statement practically seeping under the back room door. "Whatsoever!"
Buh... um. Point taken, these stickers shall not be donned lightly! But... this staff member was adamant even later on that there was no such thing as a second-biggest sale. There... kinda is. I mean. If we're being technical, here.
PET HATES OF NUT SHOP
Customers who don't get that two products may be different prices. "These are the same price, so can you mix them together?"
"Actually, they're different prices," (said politely) "But I can still mix them together for you..." (proceeds to weigh out separately.)
"No, they're the same price."
"Well actually they're not -"
"They're both seven dollar bags."
"Um, one is seven dollars for 250 grams, the other one is seven dollars for 210 grams, you see? They're a different kilo price. But thats ok! I can still mix them together."
The fact that it is a months-long process to get a shirt in another size, and even then it seems I only have a choice of short and square or long and rectangular. You'd think, being in a job involving much bending and squatting, they'd make a blouse that didn't expose half your back every time you dug a scoop from a lower display... but no. After many buttons fell off my old shirt I ended up with a super large one, and without the curves to carry it off I resemble an orange tent in my work uniform. However, I guess it has the pleasant rare bonus of everyone exclaiming with surprise over my figure when I come into work out of uniform as if they'd forgotten I had a a torso under there.
The family-oriented staff team can be quite bitchy and cliquey.
Customers who think they're really funny. "It says grab a bag, does that mean I can grab it and not pay? Nyuh nyuh nyuh. See darl, grab a bag. Hah."
Despite the fact that there are many undesirable customers, some staff bitch about customers who really aren't that bad. In fact, the main problem may be that they're Asian.
Customers who can clearly speak fluent English, but just jab at displays instead of reading the labels on there. Um, there's a curved wall and a bunch of products between your finger and my line of sight. A little clearer, please? I guess there are probably more illiterate among us than I'd realise, but. Come on.
"That one."
"The dry-roasted mix?"
"No, that one."
*Leans exaggeratedly over counter to crane at where customer is pointing* "The... unsalted millionaires mix?"
*Jabs harder* "THAT ONE."
"I'm sorry, I can't see from this side - second one along?"
"THAT ONE. The... the MIX."
Gah. Even if you can't read, use some bloody communication. The one in the bottom corner? The one with all the peanuts? I get way more irritated by English speakers who can't communicate than I do at ethnic sorts.
THINGS I LIKE ABOUT THE NUT SHOP
It's easy to roster time off.
Being part of a 'team' does has something going for it, at Christmas at least. The hostel is good in other ways (gee, maybe next post I'll do a comparable list! Won't that be exciting!) but being part of a group can be sort of nice. Sometimes you want to be a cog in a big established machine rather than an eccentric doo-hickey that you can wind up to totter along by itself. (Um).
For the most part, customer requests are simple and easily fulfilled. This is an overlooked good point. Also, even the most annoying customer? They leave. Could you imagine if they lived in the shop, and on top dealing with all their requests and concerns you also had to collect their rent, except they had no money, and they were waiting for Centrelink on Tuesday, and maybe you could kick them out but they have nowhere to go and they'd live in the car but its raining and the wife's got the flu, gee maybe they could do some work in lieu of payment but then they leave and don't do that and then they come back breathing their smoke in your face and getting up close with their grotty teeth and saying that they want to sort out the payment, like didn't we already DO that, I believe there are still bathroom tiles needing to be scrubbed which you dodged out of, IN A SYSTEM WE WORKED OUT TO KEEP A ROOF OVER YOUR HEAD, so maybe they could rock up to work if they're not going to pay, and then you can't get stroppy with them because they've befriended other staff always want to speak to someone 'higher' and of course they're going to pay, otherwise why would they have come back? Do you think they're a bad type or summink?
Uh.
I think I've spent too much time at work these last few weeks. At work, or at Christmas 'do's'. This post is clearly deteriorating. I don't mind either job at all, and I do like seeing family and friends as well, of course, but you know. A girl needs a little hermit time every once in a while. On that note, you can't just sit rambling away your thoughts forever. Boyfriends are coming over soon, gifts are to be exchanged, and somebody made a calender appointment on my phone with 'location: DW's pants'.
Merry Christmas. Seriously =)
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Thoughts
That what I want from DW and H is reversed. DW, sensing a little whining freak-outedness, retreats. My unhappiness is exacerbated. H, not 'feeling the vibe', sits me down on a little private couch and demands to know feelings, thoughts, deep secrets. I feel ooky.
That in general, I tell people 'personal' stuff as something of a duty, an acknowledgement within myself that a little discomfort now makes for a stronger friendship later. If people know how you feel, they can adjust any of the tiny choices they make every day with your feelings in mind, and most people are nice and will unthinkingly do this.
That there are then other people, who I am compelled to tell more. Those people are not always the ones who thrive on hearing more.
That I could not ask for a better boyfriend to be there for me if I had a real problem.
That said boyfriend does not, however, tolerate silly self-absorbed worries and whinges with the same respect and time as he would give for something concrete.
That on one hand, his reluctance to do so is because of his own impatience. And hey, I've been on that end before, and I get that. What I also get is that you tolerate annoying blah blah from people you love.
That at the same time, I shouldn't be irritated by his dismissiveness. Regardless of intent, or lack of, treating insignificant problems in that way is probably a good thing. Forcing me to deal with the issue of concern without a big show of support is a good thing for me, I believe. You can become tempted to lean on somebody too much.
That I've seen the above happen with friends, and that's why I recognise that however much I want to hold DW's hand when I'm not feeling completely content, there's a slippery slope leading to needing to hold the hand in more and more situations, and soon we're at a self-indulgent point of ridiculousness where widdle old me can't handle anything alone.
That social anxiety has the potential to be contagious.
That I seem to need just one male at a party who thinks particularly fondly of me, to be socially content. Be it a boyfriend who may be on the other side of the room, be it that guy you have a tendency to flirt with when tipsy, be it your male friend who respects you but would never go further. Just somebody who notices when you've got a new dress, who cares when you stop speaking.
That being part of a couple can separate you from the social dynamics of a group, but in a good way.
...Yeah, that's about it.
That in general, I tell people 'personal' stuff as something of a duty, an acknowledgement within myself that a little discomfort now makes for a stronger friendship later. If people know how you feel, they can adjust any of the tiny choices they make every day with your feelings in mind, and most people are nice and will unthinkingly do this.
That there are then other people, who I am compelled to tell more. Those people are not always the ones who thrive on hearing more.
That I could not ask for a better boyfriend to be there for me if I had a real problem.
That said boyfriend does not, however, tolerate silly self-absorbed worries and whinges with the same respect and time as he would give for something concrete.
That on one hand, his reluctance to do so is because of his own impatience. And hey, I've been on that end before, and I get that. What I also get is that you tolerate annoying blah blah from people you love.
That at the same time, I shouldn't be irritated by his dismissiveness. Regardless of intent, or lack of, treating insignificant problems in that way is probably a good thing. Forcing me to deal with the issue of concern without a big show of support is a good thing for me, I believe. You can become tempted to lean on somebody too much.
That I've seen the above happen with friends, and that's why I recognise that however much I want to hold DW's hand when I'm not feeling completely content, there's a slippery slope leading to needing to hold the hand in more and more situations, and soon we're at a self-indulgent point of ridiculousness where widdle old me can't handle anything alone.
That social anxiety has the potential to be contagious.
That I seem to need just one male at a party who thinks particularly fondly of me, to be socially content. Be it a boyfriend who may be on the other side of the room, be it that guy you have a tendency to flirt with when tipsy, be it your male friend who respects you but would never go further. Just somebody who notices when you've got a new dress, who cares when you stop speaking.
That being part of a couple can separate you from the social dynamics of a group, but in a good way.
...Yeah, that's about it.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Christmas list
Christmas shopping pretty much done!
To date:
Mum: Hemp Hand Cream
Dad: Top Gear DVD
Sister: A piece of paper denoting a $50 Subway voucher (!)
Family Secret Santa (female cousin): A book of 'don'ts for ballerinas' from 1925 and a Sportsgirl voucher
Other Side of Family 'Random' Secret Santa: A book about letters being used as words* (ok, it fit under the $10 limit and I'm hoping it'll be a 'ooh, that's noice/different/unusual' type thing for one of the word game types)
Friend: A book of 'Camping for Dummies' to complement our vague plans, and a scrapbook for (gluten free) recipes
Other Friend: A Lonely Planet book about ethical travelling, and an Indian-made scarf and cushion cover
DW: Two teeshirts (one sporty one that he liked, one sexy one that meets his stringent requirements**), Mosby's Drug Guide for his future reference, an encyclopedia of dogs that he liked but couldn't justify buying for himself.
STILL REQUIRED:
A $10 unisex something for a friends-group gift exchange...
Another $10 thing for a work gift exchange... I'm looking for a fake mobile phone to fill with lollies, as the phone of the girl I'm buying for is apparently broken
*cough* condoms for DW... just a joke to add to his present, and I guess its about time I buy them
The prettying-up of some recipes to stick in the scrapbook
*No v-necks, no big logos, no crazy patterns, no crazy colours.
** i.e. 'x' can mean x marks the spot, a chromosome, crossing something out, a mysterious name, etc
To date:
Mum: Hemp Hand Cream
Dad: Top Gear DVD
Sister: A piece of paper denoting a $50 Subway voucher (!)
Family Secret Santa (female cousin): A book of 'don'ts for ballerinas' from 1925 and a Sportsgirl voucher
Other Side of Family 'Random' Secret Santa: A book about letters being used as words* (ok, it fit under the $10 limit and I'm hoping it'll be a 'ooh, that's noice/different/unusual' type thing for one of the word game types)
Friend: A book of 'Camping for Dummies' to complement our vague plans, and a scrapbook for (gluten free) recipes
Other Friend: A Lonely Planet book about ethical travelling, and an Indian-made scarf and cushion cover
DW: Two teeshirts (one sporty one that he liked, one sexy one that meets his stringent requirements**), Mosby's Drug Guide for his future reference, an encyclopedia of dogs that he liked but couldn't justify buying for himself.
STILL REQUIRED:
A $10 unisex something for a friends-group gift exchange...
Another $10 thing for a work gift exchange... I'm looking for a fake mobile phone to fill with lollies, as the phone of the girl I'm buying for is apparently broken
*cough* condoms for DW... just a joke to add to his present, and I guess its about time I buy them
The prettying-up of some recipes to stick in the scrapbook
*No v-necks, no big logos, no crazy patterns, no crazy colours.
** i.e. 'x' can mean x marks the spot, a chromosome, crossing something out, a mysterious name, etc
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Electric Field
I've had a lovely five days off, during which I:
- Went to the city on a Sunday by myself. It's weird that the city is actually much more old-timey on Sundays than the suburbs are. Even the stores that trade Sundays (and they advertise this so excitedly!) are only open something like 11-3. Not that I mind, it's just kind of... cute... that suburban plazas will be open for another two hours after city shops close up. Although, maybe it makes sense with the price it'd cost to trade in a better area or something... anyway. It was pleasant to wander down Rundle Street in my long swishy skirt. I discovered that you can buy quick-drying underwear made out of soy in outdoor shops, furthering my confusion about soy.
- Had two chilled-out nights of birthday celebrations. Friend #1 is a smart girl from the country who we had dinner with in town to celebrate her 20th. She also invited Friend #2, a guy from high school who I have a close but antagonistic friendship with. I think we were probably perceived as a couple (a bickery, 'well-this-one-time-he-did-this-thing' type couple) until I set somebody correct. Thank goodness we're not a couple, though. Stressing out beforehand that we're going to be late is more fun with my real boyfriend.
We went to a cocktail bar afterwards, which, being a Tuesday, was almost empty. I actually thought this was rocking, and we spread out over the couches. Unfortunately I had driven us, as a gesture of goodwill towards my companion, who often drives me due to his reluctance to drink and my propensity towards it. So I could not waste my money on expensive but awesome-sounding drinks involving chocolate and butterscotch. That's what I get!
Oh, and I got scared afterwards because I thought a creepy man with no arms was lunging towards us as we walked back to the car. Turns out he had his arms inside his tee-shirt, presumably because it was cold, and he was actually just making a step towards an arriving bus. Whew!
Friend #2, the same one starring in the anecdote about Friend #1, had a birthday dinner at the local golf club the night after. Pros: I got to see some friends which I hadn't for a while, DW came, my meal was nice, my wine was nice. Cons: The table was much too large and awkward, DW and I argued somewhat, there was boring debate about vegetarianism from my newly vegetarian friend who claims that she doesn't preach, but somehow ends up preaching each meal. And we didn't go anywhere afterwards, so that was kind of boring, although I wouldn't have been able to drink even if we did because I drove again (am I earning enough brownie points yet?). A few of us did get silly icecream from Cold Rock afterwards and then I went back to DW's house for Adult Fun Time, so maybe the lack of group party action was a good thing after all.
- Watched two episodes of Survivor, which were quite entertaining. I think Ozzy is under the impression that he is the only person to actually ever have been voted off or 'betrayed' (I put that in quotations because what works in Survivor suddenly sounds lame in real-world-talk), so dark and bitter were his glares from the 'jury' (...again).
- Went to Glenelg with DW today, an endeavor which involved six separate trips on public transport, but was quite a nice day out. It was cloudy and warm but sort of raining sporadically, which wasn't the best beachside weather, but then again I hate bright sun so I didn't mind. Plus, it meant that Glenelg wasn't too busy with kids on school holidays, which DW appreciated too. Haha, we're such old people. I bought a dress from a surf shop which I was quite happy with, being girlishly buoyed in spirits by a cute and well-fitting purchase, and a book about dogs which DW couldn't justify getting for himself so I said I'd give it to him for Christmas.
- Came to the shocking realisation that 1) The phrase, "Do you want a medal or a chest to pin it on?" refers to an actual body-part chest, not, like... a wooden chest. Or does it? More extensive research may have to be undertaken... and 2) The MGMT song is called 'Electric Feel', not 'Electric Field' as I had otherwise thought. Sigh. The latter is a much cooler title.
Yeah... presumably there was more that occurred over five days, but that's all that springs to mind. That, and I should go to bed, since I'm starting at 6 am tomorrow. Oh and by the way, I'm glad I appreciated my time off because I'm now working nine days straight.... ew.
- Went to the city on a Sunday by myself. It's weird that the city is actually much more old-timey on Sundays than the suburbs are. Even the stores that trade Sundays (and they advertise this so excitedly!) are only open something like 11-3. Not that I mind, it's just kind of... cute... that suburban plazas will be open for another two hours after city shops close up. Although, maybe it makes sense with the price it'd cost to trade in a better area or something... anyway. It was pleasant to wander down Rundle Street in my long swishy skirt. I discovered that you can buy quick-drying underwear made out of soy in outdoor shops, furthering my confusion about soy.
- Had two chilled-out nights of birthday celebrations. Friend #1 is a smart girl from the country who we had dinner with in town to celebrate her 20th. She also invited Friend #2, a guy from high school who I have a close but antagonistic friendship with. I think we were probably perceived as a couple (a bickery, 'well-this-one-time-he-did-this-thing' type couple) until I set somebody correct. Thank goodness we're not a couple, though. Stressing out beforehand that we're going to be late is more fun with my real boyfriend.
We went to a cocktail bar afterwards, which, being a Tuesday, was almost empty. I actually thought this was rocking, and we spread out over the couches. Unfortunately I had driven us, as a gesture of goodwill towards my companion, who often drives me due to his reluctance to drink and my propensity towards it. So I could not waste my money on expensive but awesome-sounding drinks involving chocolate and butterscotch. That's what I get!
Oh, and I got scared afterwards because I thought a creepy man with no arms was lunging towards us as we walked back to the car. Turns out he had his arms inside his tee-shirt, presumably because it was cold, and he was actually just making a step towards an arriving bus. Whew!
Friend #2, the same one starring in the anecdote about Friend #1, had a birthday dinner at the local golf club the night after. Pros: I got to see some friends which I hadn't for a while, DW came, my meal was nice, my wine was nice. Cons: The table was much too large and awkward, DW and I argued somewhat, there was boring debate about vegetarianism from my newly vegetarian friend who claims that she doesn't preach, but somehow ends up preaching each meal. And we didn't go anywhere afterwards, so that was kind of boring, although I wouldn't have been able to drink even if we did because I drove again (am I earning enough brownie points yet?). A few of us did get silly icecream from Cold Rock afterwards and then I went back to DW's house for Adult Fun Time, so maybe the lack of group party action was a good thing after all.
- Watched two episodes of Survivor, which were quite entertaining. I think Ozzy is under the impression that he is the only person to actually ever have been voted off or 'betrayed' (I put that in quotations because what works in Survivor suddenly sounds lame in real-world-talk), so dark and bitter were his glares from the 'jury' (...again).
- Went to Glenelg with DW today, an endeavor which involved six separate trips on public transport, but was quite a nice day out. It was cloudy and warm but sort of raining sporadically, which wasn't the best beachside weather, but then again I hate bright sun so I didn't mind. Plus, it meant that Glenelg wasn't too busy with kids on school holidays, which DW appreciated too. Haha, we're such old people. I bought a dress from a surf shop which I was quite happy with, being girlishly buoyed in spirits by a cute and well-fitting purchase, and a book about dogs which DW couldn't justify getting for himself so I said I'd give it to him for Christmas.
- Came to the shocking realisation that 1) The phrase, "Do you want a medal or a chest to pin it on?" refers to an actual body-part chest, not, like... a wooden chest. Or does it? More extensive research may have to be undertaken... and 2) The MGMT song is called 'Electric Feel', not 'Electric Field' as I had otherwise thought. Sigh. The latter is a much cooler title.
Yeah... presumably there was more that occurred over five days, but that's all that springs to mind. That, and I should go to bed, since I'm starting at 6 am tomorrow. Oh and by the way, I'm glad I appreciated my time off because I'm now working nine days straight.... ew.
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