All Very Exciting

I am sitting on my queen sized bed eating caramel tart flavoured yoghurt and procrastinating my excessive amount of homework. Also, I'm currently ditching uni. I thought I could achieve more if I stayed home. The fact that I haven't achieved anything yet is beside the point. Anyway, I have internet now so I thought it was about time to update you all on my new life.

I can cross off 56). Move out now! I am living in Glebe on the 6th floor of an ugly apartment block with this amazing girl that I went to school with and a cute little cat called Sassafras and my cranky fish called Rupert. We're pretty awesome. I still haven't unpacked everything which is mildly depressive and quite painful as I keep tripping over boxes or have boxes fall at me. Uncool. But I'm super close to everything. 48). is going to be a flipping breeze. And uni is only 1 train away instead of three. It's quite nice. I just need to find me a job so I can actually eat occasionally and that kind of thing.

Hopefully I'll have a housewarming just as fun as the random drunken gathering we had last night.

MuchLove.

31). Sponsor someone doing an event for charity

So a dear friend of mine has decided to shave her head in order to raise money for people suffering with leukaemia. SHAVE HER HEAD. This is kind of a big deal. I would have given her some dosh anyway since this is such a big deal but I gave her a little more than I normally would and crossed off 31). If you want to see how much she has raised or donate yourself ( hint hint ) I shall link you here ( if that doesn't work I will need to bash my head repetitively against a hard surface, I've been coding at uni for two weeks now ).

MuchLove.

The Lost Symbol

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown was pretty darn cool. One of those books that really makes you think. It introduced me to this whole new science called Noetic Science. Or something. Basically it explains the idea that thoughts have mass and therefore have an effect on gravity, the weather, etc. It also taught me a bunch about Washington and the Stonemasons.

This thick book is set over a day. ONLY ONE DAY. That, and the fact that the chapters are super short, you zoom through the book pretty quickly. I’d been pretty keen on reading it because Papa has been reading it since march last year and therefore it’s been out and around a lot, taunting me.( if you are thinking ‘hey, he didn’t zoom through it!’ he did, actually. It’s probably the first book he has persisted with ).

There was this one bit which I’m going to tell you about despite the fact that it is in fact a spoiler. The main character guy was put in a fibreglass coffin and drowned. So at this stage you are all ‘what the actual fuck. You can’t kill the main character. That’s cheating’. Turns out it’s not water but some super substance you can breathe. WEIRD RIGHT?!. But I want to try it. I think it would be very much like being a fish. I want that experience.

I’m thinking 4 stars. It was pretty entertaining, but not brilliant. Dan Brown always makes me think and I do appreciate that.

Gone

Gone by Mo Hayder was genius. I love her writing. It’s so gory and graphic and unafraid. This was another Jack Cafferey book which is a brilliant thing as I love these characters. This one was different though because I could see it coming. Mo Hayder usually surprises me ( and to be honest, most thriller mysteries do ) but I guessed who it was before the end. I’m extremely proud of this fact.

I bought this book in Heathrow airport. I was so pissed with the situation I was in I was ready to break noses but I refrained. I’d just waited around for hours and the crappy bookstore was packed and they didn’t have the sequel of the book I just finished and GAH. Stab them all. I finished most of it on the plane.

5 stars because she is amazing and the book is amazing and the character development is amazing AND SO MUCH AMAZINGNESS. Read it. Or her other stuff. Or all of her stuff. NOW.

vampire academy

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead was an amazing series. Not only were they cheap books there was some quality writing in these. M and E have/are reading them and also like them. I started them while I was in Tamworth. I actually ran around unsuccessfully, desperately trying to find the next one for the train home.

The main character is kick-ass, which was definitely overdue since the books I’ve been reading lately have had really wimpy girls who rant and complain about shit all. She can win in a fight, stands up for what she believes in and doesn’t take other people’s drama.

It was a different take on the whole vamp saga. It’s an overdone genre, first to admit it. But I do love vampire fiction. They tend to focus on forbidden love too much though. Vampire academy had this but a whole different spin on it. It also had the mysticism and magik done in such a way that it was interesting and captivating.

I did not like the fact that the author assumed we are all thick and therefore had to spell everything out. Our ‘oh cool’ moment was two chapters before the characters ‘oh cool’ moment. So you did hate the characters sometimes, the whole ‘you idiot! It’s so flipping obvious!’ moments. But, in contrast, she did chuck in a bunch of extreme story line changes that I did not see coming from the beginning.

Weird fact I feel like sharing: one of the characters just randomly has a name change in the last book. Apparently the printing here and in the Americas wasn't in synch so we got two names for one guy. There was an explanation at the start of the last book, which was such an "ah, this is why the books are under 15$ and available at woolworths" moment.

5 stars, my friends. I’ll read it again and I’ll recommend it again. I may even lend it again like I did with E but I’ll probs read them again before that. They are that good. Especially because it’s not sugar coated. It’s realistic despite the fact it’s fantasy.

p.s. I've stopped counting the books I've read for the title. It's just making me a little crazy so titles it is. Also, on the train to and from uni I've been typing up about the books I've read and then just forgotten to post it when I get home. Which is just dumb. So that's why there are about 4 book related posts in a row...

chinese

MAD CHINESE THEME FOR YOU! It’s very exciting-like. On Friday it was Papa’s birthday and we went for dinner at the chinese restaurant we tend to go to celebrate birthdays. I was quite excited; I like to make a fuss when we go out to dinner to better highlight how infrequently we go out for dinner as a family. VERY RARELY. Anyhoo, there was deliciousness. Purpose of actually including all this loveliness is that I can cross off 33). Eat with chopsticks successfully. I went the whole meal without spilling anything on myself, without chucking a shit fit out of impatience or giving up and requesting a fork. Papa even challenged me to pick up half a grain of rice ( sarcastically ) and I got it first go ( win of epic proportions ). And don’t say anything about dessert. I doubt fried icecream is traditionally eaten with chopsticks. AND THEN the next day we went to the Art Gallery of NSW and saw the First Emperor warriors. They were pretty impressive but it was so ridiculously packed I almost went nuts and kicked all the complaining children in the teeth. So the warriors lost some impressiveness. And then the parents were telling the kids the wrong things, half the other stuff in the exhibition were just replicas and then Munchkin got super sick and almost puked/passed out on people. Which I would have let happen if I knew Munchkin wouldn’t get hurt but they’d probably just trample him. He actually has acute tonsillitis ( again ) and is now on penicillin because it’s so terrible. I’m not sure how this is at all list related but there you go. That was my weekend. Mostly. The rest of it I don’t really remember. Not because I was drunk, just because it was pretty uneventful.

MuchLove.

updates from down time.

So welcome back Me to uni, and therefore blogging, as procrastination will be a major element of this semester if the last two semesters are anything to judge by. I’m currently on a train. Back to my life of train journeys. WOOP. Obviously I haven’t suddenly gained tech knowledge and/or money for wireless internet so this will be a copy and paste job but all the same. I’m writing. And I am well aware it’s been a while. Sorry. Don’t freak too much, I haven’t been ignoring my list, just the blogging about it bit. Humm..

Also I went to London. So yes. I have every excuse. Mother Dearest even agreed.

LIST STUFF: I’ve actually done lots. I’m actually quite super at list crossing off of. Maybe not so super at English and grammar. Meh.

I crossed off 3). Go to a moonlight cinema session. I saw Toy Story 3. Hornsby council was awesome for once. They called it “Movies under the Stars” though. Personally I think my wording was much more nifty. I had a lot of fun! It was local so easy for us to gather and nicnic and watch the movie, despite the zillions of small children running around on sugar highs.

Can I just say that if you thought the Human Diseases Museum thing was cheating for 10). I was on a plane for 23 hours for a specific exhibit in the British Museum so stick that in your pipe and smoke it. Or not. Either way, I went to London for an exhibition which is super nerdy but mostly awesome. I did get other list stuff done there. I went to two different markets. Camden markets are so flipping awesome and I shall be going back there with loads of money to spend and a friend who likes the same sort of goth/punk/alternative style. I spent quite a lot of monies as it is. And then Old Spittalfield Markets which were tamer and grandmother approved ( ie. I could take my grandmother there without worrying about shielding her judging eyes ). I spent too much monies here too. SO MUCH FUN. I love market shopping, especially when it’s cheap.

I think travelling to the other side of the globe to learn more about Ancient Egypt probably warrants enough effort spent to cross off 44). Learn all I can ( and remember ) about Ancient Egypt, but I’m making it harder for myself and reading the giant book I was given and haven’t yet read before I cross it off. I will take a pic of it in relation to me so you can see what I mean by giant. FLIPPING MASSIVE.

62). Replace Zachariah, happened totally out of the blue. Zachariah was the most awesome fighting fish in existence before T accidently killed it by giving it too much food and then stirring the water. He literally exploded. I’ve put off getting a new one because my plans of moving seemed cruel to a fish. I don’t think driving around with a fish is intelligent. Anyhoo, I get a call from T saying “ I have a Siamese fighting fish eating all my other fish, help me”. So I take my kick-ass tank which glows and has diamonds instead of rocks and is powered by usb to T’s and get Rupert. He is red and kind of cranky and goddamn adorable. And the tank fit perfectly in the little box next to the driver in the car which is not called the glove box even though my mother keeps her gloves in there.

While I was in London I went several days without a computer. In fact on the plane over I went 24 hours without a computer but technically only 12 hours had passed so I don’t know if it counts. Which shits me. A lot. Anyhoo, for the moment, I will say some days with no specificity. I will check my travel diary ( which was technically my blog without the web bit for the trip ).

I have started 87). Go 6 months without fast food. On Monday, ie the last day of February, I went to maccas to get T and I breakfast. I spilt iced coffee all over Mother Dearest’s car. And now it reeks. T cleaned it really well so I don’t understand in the slightest. Serves me right. Freaking macca’s. I went about 2 years without macca’s so I’m not too fazed by this. It’s more the social aspect that will be awkward.

Simanda, my lovely work mate who I don’t work with anymore, sold me her bed! Her Queen sized bed. Which is a kind of double bed, so I can cross off 101). She up and left us in Australia in favour of love in America. She actually had a significant other there, she’s not some love seeking hippy. And she really is lovely. Anyhoo, it’s in my storage shed, just chilling, til I find a place to live. Which better be soon because my current bed is really quite tiny.

I’ve written loads! I’m almost at uni. Brilliant. Wish me luck with all my new subjects and whatnot. I think I have to keep a blog as part of my homework for one of my subjects. I love my course.