you caught me lingering

So, I lost my phone late last week, which is a bit of a pain in the butt, but the result of that is that I have a shiny new Nokia 6300.

However, it also means that I don't have anyone's mobile numbers anymore. So, folks, I need your help. Comments to this entry are screened, so if I had your number, or you think I should have your number, please comment on this entry with your number so I can add it back to my phone. Or, since I'm still on the same number, send me an sms with who you are in it and I'll add the number back.

So, yeah. Not dead, just distracted.

Summary.

Brisbane was great - twas good to catch up with the people I did see, others I'm sorry I missed you, but I should be up again around Christmas, so hopefully more catch-ups will be in order.

Graduation was long. In what I think is ultimately a good thing all round, neither the Vice-Chancellor or the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), who were largely responsible for shafting my degree, were at graduation, so I couldn't punch either of them. The Chancellor got very long-winded about how much the university supported us, and it too every inch of my self-restrain to not burst into bitter cackling onstage whilst he was talking. I don't think the eleventy-million health graduates would've got it. Meanwhile, a friend of mine, Scott, was student rep, and managed to get a lovely polite-but-well-placed barb about the importance of humanities in his speech, which made me smile. I'll have photos of me in silly hat later.

The meeting-of-the-in-laws went off without a hitch. Mother was on her best behaviour, which is what I expected. The only problem with mother being on her best behaviour is that I then have to listen to people babble on about how damn lovely she is and how much she obviously cares about me blahblahblah, to which the only coherent response I can ever think of is "That's great, doesn't excuse her being a violent neglecting harmful person. Please STFU and stop pretending like you know my family because you had dinner with them once." But, well, yelling at my mother-in-law is never a good idea, and I can do coherent or quiet, bit not both, when it comes to that.

Tori was glorious, and the difference between a just-Tori gig and a Tori+band gig is phenomenal. I like both, and the stuff off the new album is fucking awesome live, as is, y'know, everything.

Work is good, busy but not horrible; I've got all of my portfolio now, which is still weird because they had a much bigger standard portfolio size when I was last working here, so it feels rather small. It's good though. Review Meeting with one of the national clients next week, which should be interesting, but the files are all fairly well on track at this stage, and we're far enough away from renewal that they shouldn't get too snarky about estimates.

Home is good; honestly, part of my internet-abscence has to do with the fact that by the time I get home from work, curling up in bed with the Foxtel remote seems like a much more comfortable idea. Still, much of the good US TV started up this week, so I'll be spending at least some regular time on the tubes from now on. Plus, we've been training at the gym two nights a week, so honestly my internets-time is significantly reduced. I forgot how much full-time work cuts into tubes-time.

I'll probably do a quick skim of the f-list, but if there's anything major I should know, put it in the comments. :)

Bourne Ultimatum = AWESOME.

Ratatouille next week - eee!

Getting out to the carpark to discover the car had been broken into = really not awesome. Thankfully, there was nothing in the car worth stealing, and the car was undamaged. We've figured out how they managed to do it, and the vulnerability shall be addressed. But yeah, not cool.

Still, Bourne was awesome. And Joey Asnah was awesomely kickass. I must say, though. I really wish we could get back to actually being able to watch action sequences rather than having directors try and 'immerse' us in them. It's getting a bit stupid. But aside from that ongoing Hollywood trend, it was win.

What wasn't win was the trailer for Rush Hour 3. I swear there was a racism Bingo in there, possibly two. Thus, an open letter.

Dear Jackie Chan,

Please go back to making films in Hong Kong. They were totally awesome. Please just beat the crap out of the next American film person who tries to get you to make something. Release that as a film instead, it'd be more entertaining.

no love,
me.

Also, my danger-senses are tingling about The Kingdom after seeing the trailer (clue: it's set in Saudi Arabia), but really, it's Jennifer Garner as a kick-ass government operative type character, which really scratches my OMGALIAS itch.

So, after a few weeks of peering at them strangely in the shop, I finally bought one of those self-heating coffee things. Now, I'm not particularly fussy about coffee, so my verdict should be taken accordingly, but it's actually pretty good - at least the mocha latte one is.

Haircut today was fairly painless. Head feels much lighter, which is made of yay. Except I kept cringing when the hairdresser was washing my hair, because she stopped to put shampoo/conditioner/etc in my hair, AND LEFT THE FREAKING TAP THINGY ON. This Queenslander COULD NOT COPE. ALL THAT WATER OMG. That's like a whole shower, dammit. Well, in Brisbane.

More shopping was done today, and I've finished unpacking the books, which took a little longer than usual because I was inputting them onto aNobii as I went. Oh, and just in case there was any doubt about my love of categorising regarding my books, they are currently separated into the following categories:
Fiction: SciFi/Fantasy
Fiction: Classics/Literature
Fiction: Other
Non-Fic: Gender/Race/Queers Studies
Non-Fic: Other Humanities/Social Science (ie, History/Sociology/Research Methods/Politics/Philosophy)
Non-Fic: Other
Non-Fic: Food & Cooking (which is out on the loungeroom shelves, since they're closer to the kitchen).

Bourne 3 must be viewed at some point this weekend. Possibly tomorrow. Tomorrow will also involve cooking, cleaning, and comic stores.

Oh, ran into my friend R, from uni, who graduated last year and has been working down here since January. I caught up with him when I was down for interviews, and hadn't had a chance to catch up since I moved, but we live in the same suburb, so it's unsurprising that we ran into him and his wife whilst shopping today.

Offer of random photos of stuff is still open.

First week of work went well. They're good people, as far as one can discern after a week. I started the week with a law firm lunch (yay! wine!) and ended the week with a full-day team-building/training thing (yay! wine!). Amusingly, the guy from HR?Training who was facilitating the training thing on Friday was I guy I knew from when he first started as a Case Manager when I was last with the company. It was nice to see a familiar face and get a whole bunch of Sydney Office gossip/news. :D

'Kyrie (my PC, for the uninitiated) was picked up this morning, though she's not being unpacked until I actually have a desk to put her on. The rest of the unpacking will be done today/tomorrow.

I've booked my trip back up for Graduation+Tori, so I shall be in Brisbane from Sat 15th (thus shall be at Matt's Birthday Thingamy), to Sun 23rd. There may be drinks on the Friday night on account of me having done that odd-shaped hat and gown thing otherwise known as graduation. <strike>Also to celebrate having survived my parents visiting, since they're also heading up for graduation</strike>.

In other news, there is wrestling on this evening. Like, DOWN THE ROAD. Sadly, I get the feeling that live wrestling isn't quite as slashtastic as the stuff on tv. Still. I'm sure my slashy brain will try.

Short Version: I've just accepted a job offer in Canberra, and will be moving there to start on the 20th of August. This means that I will have, once I get back to Brisbane next Tuesday night, a little over a fortnight to pack up my house and move. Thankfully, the place I'm renting currently is fully furnished, [*returns from calling the landlady to give notice of moving out*] so the only big things I've really got to move are my drawers, my bookshelves and 'Kyrie (the PC, for those who haven't worked out that I name my machine). Everything else can be boxed up relatively easily.

So, in between frantically packing, I shall endeavour to see people before I leave. I'll most likely be flying out Sunday August 19th, so if you want to catch me in Brisbane, you've got between next Wednesday and then. I may try and do some kind of scheduling post once I get back Tuesday night.

stephendann shall sms you when we surface in the morning.

Bought the new Tori album last night, and it's been the soundtrack of my day. New Tori always takes a few days to really seep in and figure out if I like them or not, but signs are good, at this stage. Some awesome, catchy stuff with some grunt. The concept's a new one for her, but reminds me of SLG, actually. Not what I was expecting from what I'd heard, but I think I like it. From what I've heard about what she plans to do with the tour for this album, it'd be really awesome to see it. I'm not holding my breath, since that'd be a massive break from the 'once a decade' plan. Still, it'd be nice.

Off to New Buffalo tonight. Oh Ehm Gee, Gigging.

Today's protest against the Arts/Social Science degree closure went well. Despite news this morning that apparently the police had been 'put on alert', and the sight of very stern looking security (though to be fair, the CA Security Super was there, and he's actually awesome, and wasn't being very stern) and facilities management staff manning the entrance to U Block, it was loud yet peaceful, which is really the best outcome.

All the speakers were good, though I unfortunately missed a chunk of the talks since I had to scurry offside to do a radio interview for 4ZZZ (which I believe will be aired on Tuesday sometime between 12noon and 1pm, if anyone in Brisbane feels like listening - actually, I'm in a class then, so if someone is able to record it so I have proof of how in/coherent I was, it would be appreciated). I believe Channel 7 and Ten news were also there with cameras (I saw the latter but not the former, though other apparently saw 7), so there may be news segments this evening. We also marched through campus, much to the bemusement of GP staff and students. Someone apparently saw Deputy Vice Chancellor David Gardiner (who's 'facilitating the change management process') peer out his window briefly, which is interesting.

Next step is Wednesday, in line with the University Academic Board Meeting. Which, incidentally, was supposed to be today, whilst the VC is overseas, but once he realised the issue had been placed on the agenda, he rescheduled to Wednesday afternoon so he could chair the meeting, and then rescheduled to 9:30am at Kelvin Grove campus, for unknown (to me) reasons, so we can speculate amongst ourselves.

Incidentally, I'm still not entirely sure how I ended up being landed with the 4ZZZ interview. Someone else organised it, and in my caffeine-less haze this morning I recall folks saying I should do it, staring at them for a bit, and agreeing (actually, it was originally going to be a call for background noise of the rally, then a follow-up interview on Monday, which somehow changed once the woman from 4ZZZ actually called). What's interesting from a self-development perspective is that it's just not something I would've done, to the point of actively avoiding it, even a year ago. Passion and Anger apparently overrides my "oh crap, speaking to public" reflex. I *think* the interview went well. I was generally able to talk about the issue without much uhm-ing and ah-ing or long pauses, which part of me would expect given I've barely thought about much else for the last three weeks, but it's nice that my brain and mouth managed to come to the party.

I'm feeling somewhat more positive today, and my brain's actually managed to throw me some scraps of ideas I can work with the the essay that's (including the extension I got) due on Tuesday. So I may actually get the damned thing written (at least partially) this weekend.

Sat 12/5 - New Buffalo at the Troubadour - holy shit, I'm actually considering going to a gig.
Sun 13/5 - 7:30pm on SBS - EUROVISION. - and you thought I was being all cool and shit.

I'm tempted to get a new headset mic this week so that if no one else, $tephen will be able to once again experience the joy of me watching Eurovision.
Incidentally, I have no idea what the cool kids are listening to these days, but if anyone wishes to join me for New Buffalo, let me know.

Damn I'm glad tomorrow's a public holiday. I normally get mildly cranky about the fact that Labour Day is May up here (it's October down in Sydney), because it means we've got a long stretch of no public holidays in the second half of the year, but I'm too crampy to really care about anything other than the grave doubts that I'd be able to make it to work tomorrow.


Dear Uterus.

You hate me. I get it. Please stop.

no love,
me

So, I've decided I feel like Lone Star for my birthday dinner. If anyone feels like joining me, they're welcome to. Comment/e-mail/sms/etc. I'll prolly head over around 7pm

So, Between Stephen's father and sister, me, and his brother's girlfriend, there are four April birthdays. Since Stephen is going home tomorrow, we had the big birthday dinner tonight.

Okay, so the funniest story is that Peter (Stephen's brother) and Brooke (his girlfriend) got me a Borders voucher - this is always a good gift for me. Book vouchers are WIN. So, they went to all the trouble of wrapping it by putting it in a box with tissue paper. I open the box and in my way go "Yay! Paper!" I take the paper out carefully, and peer into the box, and ... it's empty. I carefully pull the paper apart. Nothing. I peer into the box again. Peter and Brooke look at each other in horror. I start laughing my ass off. Stephen takes the paper and starts wrapping it around his head. I decide to wear the box as a hat. Peter and Brooke scurry out to the car to find the voucher which had fallen out of the box. I continue wearing my hat, and the entire family nearly dies of laughter. Peter and Brooke return, and I proclaim to have received the best present ever. Then they give me the voucher and I'm filled with even more glee.

Other birthday gifts:
* Alias Seasons 1-4 Boxset. Yay!
* Silver locket with space for photos, with silver chain and velvet ribbon, so I can be terribly goth if I wish to.
* ATroll, which Stephen bought it on the internets. Which makes it AN INTERNET TROLL. LOOKIT! (Picture behind cut)
( TROLL )
The club is detachable, which means that when I encounter silly trolls on the intertubes, I can take out my frustration on this one. Everyone wins!

Yay! And now, other stuff. Or sleep. Something like that. I shall see people tomorrow.

So I was in town on Friday afternoon, and there's a group of Americans chatting in the mall, who looked about my age, so mid-20s-ish. One black American, the others (as far as I could tell) white. The black American guy was wearing a shirt with the confederate flag on it.

My brain, it exploded.

My photos from the engagement party are up. Link to gallery below for anyone who wishes to see how I scrub up. And, incidentally, the new hair, which I love.

Photos here.

Like Pru, I sized down to upload, so if anyone wants larger copies, let me know. Also, I will probably be getting prints of a couple of the shots of me with other people. If any of said people want copies, let me know that too, and I'll get multiple prints when I get around to it.

Ganked from littlenell and sugarcontent.

( baaah. 2007 meme )

Orright. I'm out for the weekend.

Anyone going to Faith tonight, I shall see you there.

Anyone with an idea for Saturday evening, call me or $tephen. Actually, SMS might be a better idea. *cough*

Anyone up for Dead Cow Sunday Evening, we're probably looking at Morrison.

Anyone who wishes to provide me with a functioning nasal cavity and related bits, IWILLLOVEYOUFOREVEROMG. My nose has been runny and I've been sneezing and so on since bloody seven this morning. It's now nearly eleven-thirty. I'm entirely unimpressed.

And now, to quest for anti-histamines on the way to the airport. YAY AIRPORT!

So, dinner last night was lovely. Though I must say, it's a weird evening when I'm siding with David in an argument, particularly against female friends who are trying to claim that going to strip clubs is equivalent to sex. Because, um, seriously? I think my brain broke, slightly. Becuase it's things like this that make me look at the 'feminists hate men' trope and just fucking boggle. There's some crazy definitions of hate going on.

But anyway, that's a side point. So, in light of the liver function results from the blood tests, I stopped at one drink. I'm still trying to determine whether that was a good or bad plan. Becuase I'm not sure if more alcohol would've made me feel more or less skeevy about what went on. Thinking about it, I think I'm glad I noticed it at the time, because realising it afterward would've probably made me feel worse about it.

In short? The two small-framed women, who would've been about my age, dressed in short, cutesy sailor outfits, being all coy and 'naughty' and stripping to their underwear to Shirley Temple singing 'On the Good Ship Lollipop'? I threw up in my mouth, a little. The infantilising was really quite disturbing. I'm still trying to figure out if the fact that they were out of time and looked really unpractised was because they were actually unpractised or whether it was supposed to infantilise them more. I'm kind of hoping for the former, because the latter would skeeve me out even more.

In actual fact, I think the only performer I found remotely interesting was the blonde woman who appeared to be slightly older than the others. She actually looked like she was enjoying herself. She had flaming foam stuff at one point, which was really cool-looking, and at the risk of repeating myself, she wasn't giving off "oh look I'm being naughty ooh!" vibes the other performers were. I mean, I'm not sure that would've been her first choice of things to be doing for the evening, but it's that 'naughtiness' vibe that was really creeping me out last night. Because underlying that idea of "ooh, naughty!" is an acceptance of the fact that feeling shame is appropriate, because that shame is a large part of what makes it titilating. And that's really kinda skeevy.

So, yeah. Not really passing mustard. Still, company for the evening was good, which is the important bit.

I've had a lovely relaxing weekend, when I've managed to keep away from SPN fandom. ( This is the last time I'll talk about it until the next ep, I swear (and yes, more spoilers) )

Friday evening involved a lovely catch-up with chatondesse at her brother's engagement party. I now have the tempting prospect of a tailor-made summer-weight corset to consider, when I've a tad more money at my disposal. Also; chatondesse, you need to e-mail me your address so I can send you, um, stuff. *grin*

The rest of the weekend has been spent watching tv and knitting.
( Battlestar Glactica Season 2 & 3 spoilers, since they've not finished screening S2 in Oz yet )

Y'know, that doesn't sound very relaxing at all, but seriously, my weekend has been lovely.

neafthemighty says: *cocks head* no matter how many times i watch these movies, Sauron's eye always looks to me like a giant flaming vagina in the sky.
arielladrake says: Thrush.
neafthemighty says: no wonder he's bitter.
arielladrake says: yeah. they don't have that handy little pill in middle earth, and none of the orcs will help him with the cream or pesary.
neafthemighty says: mostly because they can't reach. "fuck. i knew it was a bad idea to put my gigantic vagina at the top of an insanely high tower." LOAD THE CANESTON CANNONS!

Also, chatondesse! Um, details for tomorrow?

*beats head against wall*

That's a pretty good characterisation of my day, today. I don't really feel like talking about a lot of it, but suffice to say, therapy was a welcome occasion this evening.

The relevant point is that I've gotten my first essay of the semester written, which is due Wednesday.
Tomorrow, I skip geeknight (which sucks, but is my own damn fault, so I can't really complain) and come home after uni for editing and translating said essay to a powerpoint presentation, which is also due Wednesday.

But yeah. I am still alive. The short version of the weekend:

Friday: DOA was, um, surprisingly good. There were a few particularly jarring moments of unnecessary cheescake, but for an adaptation of the video game that was rather lacking in plot to begin with, it was pretty cool. Even if it did have Holly Valance in it.

Saturday: I got out of bed way too early. Seriously. Anniversary lunch for $'s folks. Exercising democratic right and all that. EBEParty. Being a great big nerd at said party and geeking out over Election results.

Sunday: Sleep. Wedding of a friend from uni, which was lovely, and had the most death-causing cake I've ever eaten in my life.

So there you go. And now, I'm off to bed. I have work in the morning.