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a penguin of very little brain
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| penguins hanging by the door |
[Jul. 23rd, 2008|09:03 pm] |
delightful things version july08
:: the shrieks of my mother as she calls 'mahjong' :: curry for breakfast :: condensation on the kitchen window :: brightly coloured scarves :: early winter light :: plush penguins stacked high to the ceiling :: baking on cold evenings :: walking into town with davyd :: sunday morning breakfast out :: painting in my pyjamas :: new cook books :: markets :: playing with language :: roti canai :: my tweed frock coat :: movies with friends :: heavy rain, pounding on the roof :: oranges :: the possibility of hail :: almost time for strawberries :: birthday presents in the post :: knee-high toe socks ::
你呢？ |
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| where all the mountains have a face |
[Jun. 8th, 2008|07:32 pm] |
this week:
♠ This week I've been reading The Year In Pictures, which is more interesting to me than the usual photo blogs with their photos. The Year in Pictures is the blog of a gallery owner in New York, and what fascinates me most is that his blog is often about photography, but often it is also about the installation of art. It is the installation of art and photographs that I am most looking forward to in our upcoming move; its distribution is just as important as the message it conveys.
♠ I recently discovered unclutterer, and read the back catalogue. Whilst I find many of the posts condescending, and think that often the theory is that everything else is sacrificed in the name of uncluttering, a lot of the advice given is useful, or at least worth thinking about.
♠ I often struggle to write to topic outside of uni, and as such I am a terrible and infrequent poster at Carnivals, but I do love reading them, they're usually really interesting and often quite thought provoking. This week two blog Carnivals went live: POC in Sci-Fi Carnival #10 (POC Representation in YA Fiction); and The Inaugural Down Under Feminists Carnival.
♠ An awesome fashion shoot: Made in Asia.
♠ There are so many blogs about the place that give advice, the positivity blog and dumblittleman and sometimes, I wonder how they can be such experts on everything! It does lead me to wonder that they're just making it up as they go along, which is okay so long as it works but how many people reading these blogs think these bloggers know what they're talking about? Just something I think about. Anyway, I am not going to write a post about how you can be organised and fantastic etc, but I am going to link these three posts (written by others) that I found interesting and potentially relevant to people I know. I'm not going to summarise them because I think they're fairly self-explanatory from their titles: How to Keep a Bad Job from Affecting your Home Life; Saying Farewell to a Hobby; 13 Things to Avoid When Changing Habits.
♠ An article in the Sun: 'Man banned from jet for Transformers T-Shirt.' From the BBC (more reliable than The Sun, obviously): 'Woman lived hidden in Japan flat,' A woman has been arrested in Japan for sneaking into a man's house and living in his wardrobe without him knowing.
♠ I don't know if this is awesome, but it certainly looks awesome, you all know my obsession for languages: Learn 35+ Languages for Free in iTunes. |
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| a brief interlude about weddings |
[Jan. 24th, 2008|08:50 pm] |
This was written as two separate pieces, but nobody wants to read two posts about this, so:
I read some wedding magazines today.
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: do not read wedding magazines
Here are some notes I made:
- Every bride should begin a series of facials or a good home beauty routine at least six months before. Or, as someone commented when I complained about this today, it's so that you can be crazy every morning for six months.
- 6-12 months before, you should book caterers and floral arrangers. AHAHA.
- I don't know how you feel about made up words, but "skintelligence" is a new one for me and not a good one.
- wedding day emergencies: peeling sunburn, flushed skin or rashes, puffy eyes. Look, I would not call these emergencies. Your marquee collapses with everyone inside it and someone gets hilariously trapped, yes. The celebrant falls out of a tree and is unable to attend, certainly. The government declares war and suggests everyone curb excess, maybe. Puffy eyes, not so much.
- Most couples experience stress while planning their big day. GOSH GEE
No wonder people go insane planning weddings, if this is what they're told. And the crazy thing is that many people believe this stuff! It's just a constant barrage of "your perfect day" and "being a princess" and seriously, it's just an excuse to have a big party, and to celebrate the awesomeness of the people in question! Please don't stress about it.
And DON'T READ THESE MAGAZINES.
***
I've been doing a bit of reading and research of late, planning for the upcoming Really Big Party.* As Davyd and I have been engaged for quite a few years, I've been pretty laid back about the whole thing, up until a couple of weeks ago when A Certain Person** waved his arms at me across the internet and suggested that Davyd and I were about three months behind schedule. Because he's usually so calm and laid back, and yet was waving his arms at me, I started to freak out a little and began mainlining approximately a million wedding blogs and articles. I feel sorry for anyone who happens to read my del.icio.us, suddenly inundated as they have been with wedding related things. Genevieve and SJ and Amanda have taken the brunt of this, with constant emails through the work day (when I have no work to do).
A STORY (about why weddings are crazy): At the cricket the other week, I offered around my freshly baked chocolate and choc-chip cupcakes. "You know we're back on the diet," Davyd's mum says as she takes one. I ask her why, and she replies, "Because I have two weddings to attend." "You're the mother of two grooms," I say, "you have to buy two new sets of clothes so why don't you just buy clothes that fit you now?" (she will read this, you look FINE AS YOU ARE)
Weight appears to be a huge consideration in weddings, which is ridiculous, as related above and in this link: The Skinny, and also in that my mother was fretting about my weight; she made me try on my wedding dress, just to make sure it fit, that I hadn't gained weight. "It fits well," I said, later in the week, "which means I've lost weight." "Oh no!" she said, "Is something wrong?"
I have been surprised, and occasionally overwhelmed (not in the good way), by the interest people have in weddings. Most of the time that interest is actually a little intrusive; it's as if people feel that weddings give them the right to offer their opinion about everything, even people who on a normal day would barely chat to you.
I thought I would share some of the blogs I've been looking at. Even though almost everything on these blogs is completely irrelevant to me, they're really pretty to look at, and sometimes there are nifty ideas.
- I love looking at Something Old, Something New. I enjoy reading it for the design elements, but the author of the blog is a professional stationer, and often has a lot of visually lovely links.
- Enjoy Cando is another blog that I read for its design elements (that is, unrelated to weddings), and is really pretty.
- Wedding Bee - this is a semi-pro site run by a woman who was so inspired by the planning for her own wedding that she became a wedding planner or something. The posts are made by about a dozen bloggers, each in different planning stages of their own weddings. This site can be really frustrating, sometimes the things they're obsessed with just make no sense to me.
- my big fat chinese wedding - this site is now inactive, but going back through it is interesting and sometimes helpful to see the details.
- Manolo for the Brides - this site is zero use in prep etc, but good for reporting on crazy stuff, like a wedding cake shaped to be a likeness of the bride and manicures advertised as specifically for brides (because nobody else gets their nails done...).
- portovert - I actually find this site a bit wanky, but it has been recommended as worth reading, so. It's 'for eco-savvy brides and grooms.'
- Ethical Weddings
- the VegNews Vegan Weddings
This year, including my own, I will be attending four weddings (assuming my friends love me as much as I think they do). I love big parties, they're always so much fun and it gives us an excuse to dance and hang out with our friends.
*wedding
**g.Chris
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| something that wasn't really there when i looked out the window |
[Jan. 4th, 2008|06:55 pm] |
This has not exactly been a good week, so I would like to make a list of this week's awesome things.
&spades hats
&spades the shape of these languages i speak
&spades the epiphany toilet
&spades the weekend
&spades the beach
&spades fairy bread
&spades lasagna
&spades nudie juices
&spades red things
&spades awesome stockings
&spades my zipper earrings
&spades scrubs
&spades getting the offer for my masters
&spades starcross
&spades 我的头发
&spades this version of cabaret by louis armstrong
&spades nampak/tengok
&spades taking the train down the new line
(&spades BONUS: the sausage dogs I met last week)
Please feel free to share your awesome things with me
&clubs&hearts&diams
AN ASIDE: Cameron's going away party is tomorrow at Animal House. Does anyone want to go to the beach beforehand? (about 17:00ish) |
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| and all the things you do with it |
[Oct. 19th, 2007|08:01 pm] |
things i am looking forward to, with the onset of the warmer weather (when it decides to stay, instead of this now it's summer, now it's winter thing):
&hearts light summer dresses
&hearts repurposed formal skirts. at my year 12 formal, most girls wore those long, satiny skirts with the triangle top made of shimmery material. i own several of those skirts now, shining as they trail along the floor, and i love the idea that i wear them with thongs (flip flops) and tshirt down to the shops or on picnics and i love the way they trail on the ground through the dirt and the way i feel kind of decadent, knowing i'm ruining the skirt for which some poor girl's dad paid $100 bucks, whilst i paid $10 at the local op-shop.
&hearts impromptu picnics with my friends. i love picnicking on the matilda bay foreshore as a sudden sort of thing; walking to kings' park through the wildflowers and watching the surprising fountains at the women's memorial; looking out over the city and the river in the bright, beautiful sunshine.
&hearts visits to the beach. my favourite in this city is cottesloe, its shaggy grass and its beautiful sands and the queue for the OBH, but i love trigg, too, with its stronger surf.
&hearts barbeques, sitting outdoors under the patio, eating cold foods and drinking cold drinks.
&hearts being able to get up in the morning, sun bright, not shivering as I climb out of the pool.
&hearts icecream from the junction icecreamery
What are you looking forward to? |
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| this roller-coaster ride we took |
[Sep. 6th, 2007|06:01 pm] |
- I love this icon because it is from one of my favourite books, Shaun Tan's The Red Tree, but I worry that people think the icon is about September 11.
- Last week, in my ploy to encourage Es by posting/creating gluten-free veg*n recipes, I posted a cottage pie recipe. It is an excellent way to hide mushrooms in a meal.
- The Chaser boys were arrested this morning for breaking through APEC security lines in a fake motorcade.
- In other APEC news, K-Rud gave a speech this morning, partially in Mandarin, and I love him. That article is kind of lame, though. You can see a sample of his speech here.
- I am moderately excited by Veganomicon, now available for preorder. I want it, though it's not available until November.
- This is an older thing, but still important, on the Trade Practices Amendment (Small Business Protection) Bill 2007, which would work to directly gag people calling for boycotts, apparently including bloggers.
- Last week at the Save the Children Book Fair, I picked up a lot of awesome looking books. Included in this pile was the Hare Krishna Book of Vegetarian Cooking, which we have just started using and it looks so awesome. And we just cooked a vegan halava, and it's delicious!
- We've been watching Heroes and we just ran out at 1.19.
Does anyone have 1.20 through to the end of the season? TRS has provided.
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| could not wait |
[Aug. 15th, 2007|10:30 pm] |
delightful things: my chinese lecturer's insistence that we only do our homework if it's raining; the earrings that i am wearing, a gift from my auntie; cupcakes; falafel; hello kitty; friends who come to the rescue; the Court of the Air, a book by Stephen Hunt.
of the day’s annoyances, these: that the girl i sit next to at work thinks that cooking blogs are only written by housewives and student chefs; that it is so cold; that my jumper is covered in fluff; that the muffins i made are not so tasty after two days; that my keyboard is so dirty; that Stardust is not out until September; the "nu rave" look. |
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| tell me that you love me more |
[Jul. 23rd, 2007|09:57 pm] |
a list of delightful things:
&hearts home-made dahl
&hearts this constant, heavy rain when i'm tucked up in my house
&hearts the hello kitty umbrella being used by a girl who hopped on the 24
&hearts 80's power ballads
&hearts 90's aussie pub rock
&hearts 1 2 3 4 by feist
&hearts the new powderfinger album
&hearts 3191, a year of mornings
&hearts penguins
what is delighting you right now? |
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| i hate this taste |
[Jun. 4th, 2007|07:22 pm] |
Since becoming vegetarian, my comfort foods have not changed; it is merely my ability to eat them that has altered. Of course I do not wish to eat chicken rice, or my mother's steamed ginger fish, but that immediate sense of comfort, familiarity and pleasure curls around my memories of those meals. I feel guilty, for remembering them with such pleasure, but I'm disinclined to change who I am and I cannot change who I was brought up to be; and I feel guilty for trying to be Chinese whilst vegetarian, but as I said I am disinclined to change who I am and I cannot change who I was brought up to be.
Comfort Foods, a list by Stephanie Penguin, aged 24 and 11 months:
- laksa; the thick, spicy soup with a mixture of noodles, maybe a small handful of kailan and beanshoots, raw on top.
- noodle soup; for the same reasons above, but no spice and more vegetables, good when I'm so ill I can barely move, gunked up with a cold or similar. I miss this so much; though it can easily be vegetarian, I have always lacked the skills to make it to my satisfaction, and I can never find it vegetarian in a restaurant.
- char kuay teow; again with the noodles, thick but flat and delicious.
- curry; I hate to generalise, but curry of any sort, given it's delicious. If my mother made it, I'd eat it: she makes a fantastic eggplant curry, amongst other things. The other aspect of comfort derived from curry is the method: it simmers on my stove for at least an hour, if not longer, and the smell lingers in the house for hours afterwards.
- roti.
- rice. not necessarily with anything, just white rice, warm and fresh and soft.
- cakes, freshly baked and soft inside.
It's interesting how these are all foods that I have been eating my whole life; whilst I am always discovering new and delicious foods that I enjoy, I would never call these new foods comfort foods.
Please share with me your own; I would love to hear them. |
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| swallowed like daylight into morning |
[Apr. 29th, 2007|07:57 pm] |
Thousands of Japanese have been swindled in a scam in which they were sold Australian and British sheep and told they were poodles. (fake) Article here.
I am really enjoying reading Gala Darling. Her blog is delightful. Examples of her lovely posts: style tips; on diamonds; things to do instead of refreshing your lj friends; and what does your clothing say about you? And seriously, I am really enjoying her blog.
I know a lot of people friended me after SwanCon, so I thought I would mention that I have two other journals aside from this one (because I like to compartmentalise): ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) yiduiqie, where I talk about dorking around Perth, shops, restaurants, and my art and photos; and outofthekitchen, where I (and occasionally Claira) post about food.
binka_boo is doing this thing where she lists her positives every day. I don't necessarily feel the need to do that every day, but I think it's a great idea, so I'm going to list mine for this weekend so far:
- gallivanting through town on Friday night, dinner and Paradiso and coffee at Dome
- Sydney Swans 17.7 (109) def. Melbourne 8.12 (60)
- apparently we made peace_bloom smile unexpectedly
- Scrubs
- a beautiful Saturday to be out and about
- archery, though I shot terribly
- late night walk home
- waking to rain
- leisurely breakfast out with friends
- a new penguin found at the swap meet
- the spinach and feta triangles we made for dinner
Feel free to do the same! In fact, I encourage it.
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| take you all around |
[Mar. 11th, 2007|02:28 pm] |
I would like a post of right now happy things, please.
I shall start:
watching trashy dance movies with a wonderful, fun person; this beautiful 29C day; davyd on the couch, cuddling a penguin; For The Beauty Of The Earth; the chinese new year decorations sprinkled through the apartment (though perhaps it is time for them to come down); the avocado, tomato and cheese sandwich i had for lunch; going to the zoo next week.
What are your happy things today?
Previous happy things can be found here. |
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| the tone of your voice was a warning |
[Aug. 22nd, 2006|07:58 pm] |
Inspired by my darling shaalwyd, I would like my darling friends (or anyone else - because one's joy should not be restricted to those one is familiar with, it should be shared with all) to share with me their right now happy thing, so this post becomes a list of happy things.
A happy thing: I am eating strawberries with ice cream and a double chocolate muffin from a batch that I baked yesterday. |
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| [a list] these are the things that i know about the place where i live |
[Mar. 23rd, 2005|11:25 pm] |
things that make me happy
- the guy walking barefoot down the road tuning a guitar
- ...living across the road from uni
- the takeout down the other end of the road (HULLO Malay food)
things that make me less than happy
- the loose flyscreens on the bedroom windows (mosquitos of doom)
- people leaving the pub at midnight and waking me up
- no street parking
- parking inspectors of doom
other things to note
- it was 41.9C today. i mean, hopefully the weather realises we've passed the autumn equinox
- what does dr tom think about all the freshers crushing over him?
SWANCON TOMORROW!
ps hello lamingtons. |
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| of the day's annoyances, these: |
[Sep. 16th, 2004|07:40 pm] |
- that some people think it's okay to be driving along and throw cigarettes out of their window, just because they don't want to litter their car
- that i have to write this proposal/summation/thingy, when i just want to read about prostitutes in shanghai.
- that i don't have the song 'good luck' by basement jaxx
no, that's about it. not many annoyances today, i suppose. i'm not actually in a bad mood or anything, i just wanted to mention the first grievance. IT WAS STILL LIT (!) i was watching the smoke curl up from the butt as it lay there on the ground (waiting at the lights) and i just...what if we were in a high fire period (let's face facts: the "don't water your garden" ads have started, high firer danger season is always close behind) and that butt rolled onto the grass? we'd have a beautiful little fire by the side of the road is what.
[/rant] |
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| enjoy the time you keep |
[Oct. 21st, 2002|08:45 pm] |
am currently in the grasp of an obsession with jane yolen and terri windling. not in a 'find their street address and stalk them' sort of way, but more in a 'voraciously reading everything i can find with their name involved, this includes as editor' sort of way. the 'sister light, sister dark' stuff by jane yolen is interesting to read, and her short stories are incredibly involving; and recently i read 'the wood wife' by terri windling, which is an excellent if slightly bizarre book, that makes interesting leaps of logic, and allows them to happen using the 'it's okay, it's a fantasy book' rule, which is a rule i thorougly disapprove of.
am currently eating mango icecream. if ever in midland, i demand that you go to the junction icecreamery and eat icecream from there. in the freezer i also have blackforrest icecream and passionfruit icecream (housemates and visitors note: this is not for house consumption). these are my favourites, although i also adore applepie icecream. they all taste exactly the way they should...mmm...icecream...
am currently listening to catatonia. i know cerys' voice can be grating, but how much do i love these songs? besides, the voice kind of makes it. you should all listen to catatonia. also, frete. frente rocks(rocked).
am currently singing very loudly in a house that is empty of all but me. i love singing. as you all know, i don't care that i can't actually sing. i still love to do it anyway.
am currently avoiding working, but is okay, is only small avoid. as in, will be getting up again once this is posted. to study mandarin, which i love, although it is scary, especially the oral exam next week (which i will so fail).
am currently a little chilly, as it is cold and i am not wearing enough clothes. to that end, i am currently wearing: a black skirt under a brown dress with black stripes my mother used to wear in the seventies, opaque stockings, black jumper. jewellry is engagement ring (mmmblackpearl), penguin necklace, dangly earrings, black ribbon with bell around neck, as always.
am currently a little confused. heard a rumour a little while ago. if it's true, i will be very pissed off. if it's not true, some of my faith will be restored. as it is, i'm battling the desire to just give up in disillusionment. rant on democracy will follow in the event of giving up, but i am currently leaning towards an all-or-nothing, as maelkann thinks my futile attempt will be.
am currently slightly worried about some uni-work related things. also, lack of job. ie, still have none. this is worrying, as money levels are seriously decreasing, and davyd has no steady employment (although does charge five weeks worth of _my_ wages for a half-day job).
often, lately, i've been feeling small. not unloved, but small. davyd keeps freaking out about things and waking me at one or two in the morning, to fret about this or that. and it's not that i overly mind, but i'm hardly sympathetic, and also, when he wakes me up, then i can't go back to sleep because i'm awake and suddenly thinking about my own problems.
but for all of these, and they are all bad and all good, i'm feeling a little bouncy. a little not, but a little too.
i love you davyd.
pretty people this time are max because she's been looking pretty; tom lynch because he seems cuter lately; furry because he bought me eutopia; maelkann because he'll sulk if he isn't mentioned; aaron because he's so incredibly cute and should be less mopey; matthias because he lends me cooking ingrediants (which is as it should be when you live down the road from your friends); davyd because he's swoony (so much swoonier than the shenme that maelkann swoons over).
a note: i hope that i always live down the road from my friends. because, when i'm no longer at uni, how beautiful would it be to still be able to see my friends on a regular basis? |
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| in other news |
[May. 2nd, 2002|10:59 pm] |
had long, good talk with my mother (barring barriers, still moving out, however); aaron may have forced me to sit through the entire e-com lecture today, but he is still the coolest guy in school; froggie made me cry and was not suitably aggravated at my quality gag; i played 'lunch money' and oliver won but unusually, only by luck and not by skill; adrian broke my shoe and now i can't wear it tomorrow; received a hug from davyd (significant in that is first hug from him - i like expanding my circle of huggees); went to the vfac (vegetarian club) monthly dinner where adrian and i talked about meat and lisa told us off. |
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