Day 182: May 31

From the newsdesk...

Storms 

I've found that a lot of people have either a huge hate for storms or a huge love for them. 

I am in between. 

I like the rain bit, because it's soothing and especially when it comes off a tin roof. 

Rain off a hot tin roof.

I also like the lightning - when I'm NOT in water and also when I'm inside - because it's really pretty and it lights up the whole area. It's pretty cool. 

I'm not a huge fan of thunder. Like, I'm not scared of it, it's just that I don't think it's particularly necessary. 

Apparently, neither does my dog. She absolutely hates the thunder and we have to drug her to calm her down. She barks and cries and runs around panting and just generally being pathetic because she doesn't know what to do with herself. 

About 15 minutes ago, we have a massive thunderclap. It sounded like metal on metal or maybe that something was crashing down on the earth. Maybe the car port had fallen? It felt as if the house was shaking, if though it wasn't. 

How cool would storm chasing be as a job? Dangerous and weird, but pretty awesome. 

After lightning comes the thunder. 

ps. I like the name Storm 

Day 181: March 21

From the newsdesk...

Maureen McCarthy

Tonight I listened to and met Maureen McCarthy.

She's an author:
Ganglands
Rose by any other name
Queen Kat, Carmel and St. Jude
Wake up and find me gone

Her new book is called The Convent , and while it's fiction, all the history in the book about the actual (Abbottsford) Convent is true. She told us the original inspiration for this piece was a note she'd written to herself in 1991 - just over 30 years ago.

She had wanted to know more about her mothers childhood in the convent. Why was she there? What was it like? What were the people like? The environment?
(Her mother had lived there from 3 years of age until she was 15 or 16).

Maureen went on to tell us about the convent and how it really was a refuge for girls and their problems. She talked and interviewed many people about the convent and life during that time. Most of them said it was great, but some of them, especially the laundry workers, said it was harsh and horrible.

She read us an excerpt from her new book and then she signed my copy of Rose by any other name

She's one of those people who you just want to be like when you grow up. Not necessarily have her job (although I'd want that too, because being an author would be perf), but her manner and you can see she loves what she does.

That's what I'd like to do. I'd like to have a job or do something that, when I talk to people about it, they can see I'm really enjoying myself. That I absolutely love what I'm doing.

She also had on a matching colour scarf and skirt (and bracelet) and her shoes and stockings went well.

You could see she was passionate about what she did and she wanted to share her passion and joy with others. She wanted other people to experience the pure happiness of books and writing.

So one day, when I write a speech, thanking people for things that need thanking for, mark my words, Maureen McCarthy will be on that list.


Mark my words.

Day 180: March 19

From the newsdesk...
officially marking

Today, the 19th of March, 2013, marks the day my dad has officially run 200 races.

This includes half marathons, 14kms, full marathons, ultra marathons, ultra-ultra marathons and any other distance race that he has done.

He started running about 15 years ago. His 200th race was the Great Ocean Road ultra-marathon, which is 45km long, starting at Lorne and ending at Apollo Bay, running along the Great Ocean Road.

Today he ran it in a time of 3 hours and 31 minutes which is absolutely amazing and crazy, but wow!! (This also beats his last years time of 3.36).

His distance over the last 15 years is just over 32,000 km. he records (pretty much) every race he's done and the distance and the time it took in a log book of his.

Like I do with my books.

His longest race would have to be the Comrades, which is +-90km, from Pietermaritzburg to Kwazulu Ntel (or vice versa) in South Africa. He's done it twice and I think he plans on doing it again next year.

Inspiring.

Life goal?
To run a marathon, or at least a half marathon with my dad.

Day 179: March 14

From the newsdesk...
Time:

(This is something I wrote on the twenty ninth of June, two thousand and twelve, 312 days ago)

Time is the paradox of life. It is fast, yet goes slowly when you're in a very boring board meeting. Time is long, but quite short. It can stretch out for hours; even days on end and it'll feel like a few minutes. Milliseconds, seconds, hours, days, weeks, months and years are how are lives are dictated.

A millisecond won't mean much to an average teenager, but will tell a different story to someone who's just won a silver medal at the Olympic Games.

A second is nothing to a mother, but can be the difference between life and death for a hospital patient.

Time is a mind game. It tricks you, telling you it's been longer or shorter than it actually has. It works in cohorts with the sun, controlling the light in the sky, pretending it's nine o'clock, when in fact it's only seven.

Sometimes the day is too long but when work has got the better of you, you ask the question, "why aren't there more hours in the day?"

Five minutes at the end of a work shift feels like an hour, but to a person at the rear end of their exam, five minutes feels like five seconds.

Time is our enemy, but not using it could be our greatest threat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We, as human beings, rely on time to keep us going. It organises us, it lets us do what we want, while we adhere to the guidelines of 24 hours a day, 60 seconds in a minute and 7 days a week.

We base our questions; our existence, around the very fact of time.
Oh what's the time?
When does the bell go?
17 minutes.
This bakes for 33 minutes.

It's our schedule, it's how we as living, breathing humans keep our lives intact.

Some people love the aspect of time and time-keeping and they're the ones who are always punctual; early even. They check their watch every few seconds and tap their wrists, shake their heads and tap their feet. They want people to know that they're on time and the others are late.

Others hate it. They're late to many things and are always getting yelled at by the clock-people. They're chilled and it doesn't matter if they're 5 minutes late. Clocks are there to glance at, if, at one point, they feel interested in knowing the time. But it's not really an important feature in their lives.

Time is one of the those things that while you hate it, you live it too.

Day 178: May 12

from the newsdesk...
(losing) friend(s) and shopping

HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY
(I have no idea where the apostrophe goes and I know there's a rule for this but I always forget the rule).

Okay, so just before I deleted it, there was this huge massive paragraph on me yabbering on about how I'm maybe losing one of my best friends, but then seeing what I'd written showed me that:
1. Maybe I'm overreacting slightly
2. I'm probably feeling sorry for myself
3. I'll let it pan out and see what happens
4. If it gets worse, I'll talk to her.
5. Writing things pretty much always clears my head
6. We can work through this
7. I need to write more clearly

Shopping.
A young girls dream to shop for hours and hours, finding the perfect dress and shoes and trying on t-shirts and high heels and then posting the photos on Instgram.
So apparently you haven't met you.
I hate shopping.
Its so tiresome and boring and tedious and everything is either too big or too small or the wrong shade and then you see people you know and then its like "do i wave or do i ignore them or do i say hey or what?" If you go with someone, they're super critical and then you can't decide whether you want something or not and then you take it home and you don't like it. But if you go alone, there's no advice and you need that extra bit of motivation.
I'm also really fussy and things have to be a particular way in a shape or form or there's not way I'm wearing THAT. Velvet is out of bounds and I have a strong distaste for feathers or any other animal bi-'products' like faux fur etc. I don't wear sparkles (maybe minimal sometimes) and ruffles and fluffles are a no-no. I don't like tight tops and I wear shorts pretty much all year round. V-necks are weird and sometimes half of something first, but not the other half.
I have recently discovered online shopping, but I still haven't decided whether I like it or not. I mean, its pretty and you can see the clothes without trying them on, but that's the problem: you can't try them on. Yes, you can send it back, but really?


 

Day 177: May 7

from the newsdesk...
life choices

Hello and welcome back to the show.

Tonight, I discussed my uni/my course/my year 11/12 subject selections with my parents (after about half an hour of searching for the envelope with the information needed and then not finding it, but then starting anyway and then my mom finding it after she went to check again, 'just in case'. seriously, mothers and their voodoo finding powers).

So what are you going to be when you grow up?

Even though you finish school in 2 years and these subject selections are only for next year, we would like you to pick your subject selections RIGHT NOW, THIS MINUTE so you are READY and PREPARED for the future. Thanks for not stressing and also, just to let you know, we aren't trying to put pressure on you - its not like we want you to pick your subjects 6 months to 1.5 years in advance. Thank you for your patience. Oh and on one last note, even though THESE ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISIONS, you can always change your mind at any time, even though NOT REALLY.

Currently, these are my subjects:
1. Maths (normal)
2. Science (general)
3. PE
4. Geography (1/2)
5. Film Studies (elective)
6. 3D studies (elective)
7. English (normal)

In August of this year, we have to pick our subjects for the next two years. Oh the fun of school. Now there are two things I'm positive about:
First, Edward was a vampire. And second, there was a part of him - and I don't know how dominant that part might be - that thirsted for my blood. And thir- oh, shit wrong thing.

There are two things I'm certain about:
1. ENGLISH (YOU HAVE TO DO THIS)
2. Maths (you don't HAVE to do this, but I really think that I should).
Things that I should maybe do NEXT YEAR, AS IN YEAR 11:
1. Geography 3/4
2. Studio 3/4 (year 12 art)
3. Biology
4. Maybe media
5. And if not media, another subject

Potential (HA) uni courses/jobs etc:
1. Vet
2. Doctor
3. Advertising
4. Zoology/ Animal Science
5. Event Management
6. Lawyer
7. Journalism
8. Arts of some sort
9. Maybe a double degree

Things I don't want to be/NO:
1. Teacher (of any sort)
2. Accountant
3. Things with numbers

So I have pretty much no idea what I what to do/be. Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, spy. Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief.

Like every other person that lives on this planet, I have my strengths and weaknesses. But do I work AGAINST my strengths and FOR my weaknesses? Or FOR my strengths and AGAINST my weaknesses? Or AGAINST both? Or FOR both?

Life questions.

In a perfect world, full of perfect things, I probably be a lawyer. 98.15 or 99.15 ATAR score. I would do a double degree in arts/law and be out in 5 years. I would either travel before or after or maybe take a semester off. I would do an exchange in a foreign, ENGLISH speaking country (because I don't speak anything else), BUT AS ITS A PERFECT WORLD, I would go to France on exchange, learn French there and then GO AND VOLUNTEER somewhere for 4.5 months. I would come back to Melbourne and complete my degree. I would do FAMILY LAW, which would focus on kids and foster and divorces and families etc. I would FIGHT FOR JUSTICE and yada yada, great life etc.

But as the genie isn't real, I most likely wouldn't get 98.15 +, I have to think of something else. I mean, that could be my goal. I could transfer. Teachers/people are always crapping on about 'the back door' or to get in another way.

But I would HATE hate to spend 5 years on something and then hate it when I'm finished.

Thats where a shorter degree/course would be handy. Anything creative - event management, journalism, arts etc - all have shorter degrees.

OMG I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO AND IT'S LIKE 3 MONTHS AWAY WHICH IS AGES AND SCHOOL IS (NOT) PUTTING PRESSURE ON US. BUT THEY ARE AND I DON'T WANT TO JUST 'PICK GENERAL SUBJECTS' BECAUSE THATS ANNOYING AND I NEED ONE MORE SUBJECT AND HELP.

But there's also this zoology course that's 3 years (or maybe 4) and I've wanted to be a vet since I was young, and zoology isn't vet science, but its a less long and less hard version of it and it sounds really good and interesting but then what about THE OTHER THINGS?

Day 176: May 4

May the fourth be with you

Day 175: May 2

from the newsdesk...
an apology and balloons 

GUYS I'M REALLY SORRY, I HAVEN'T BEEN ON HERE IN FOREVER. I sometimes have ideas what to write about and then I either forget them or I think they're stupid and just don't write about it.

balloons:
I really like balloons. They're so pretty and colourful and they (generally) mean PARTAY or a good time.

They're really versatile too.They can have business names printed on them or they can have tiger prints. They can say 'happy birthday' on them or 'get well soon'. They can be oval, round, animal shaped, a hat or one of those epic balloons that last for months and you generally give to people for get wells. I got a smiley face one when I had my tonsils out. It lasted for forever!

Last night, at my schools open night, they gave away Mckinnon balloons and they were helium and people kept letting them go and then you'd see balloons just floating around.

I really like helium balloons and no, not just because you can have some helium and then sound funny (which I don't think I've ever done, but I will. One day.) They're pretty cool the way they float up and up and up and then when do they stop? Do they keep going until they reach the atmosphere? How far up do they travel? How fast?

One day I want to get a massive amount of balloons and then let them go at the same time. Its like the movie Up, but without the house. Balloons can symbolise happiness or sickness.

When I was younger, and we got helium balloons, my mom or my dad used to tie them around my wrist so they wouldn't fly away and be lost forever. I remember once losing a helium balloon because I didn't know they went away so I let it go and then I cried.

Lots of people tie helium balloons onto prams and then they're just there, bobbing along in the wind.

My granny has this book, which my sisters and I read when we were younger about a bear who takes her little sister bear on a picnic and she gets a pink balloon and then loses it, but then they get another one or something like that. I can remember the pictures really clearly in my mind, but the storylines a bit hazy.

Balloon animals are pretty cool. They're just straight balloons and then suddenly they're a dog or a cat or a dinosaur of some sort. I've tried so many times to make animal balloons, but they balloon 'balls' never stay in place and then it never works.

I also like water balloons. They're really annoying because you can't actually blow them up if you have no water because they're too small, but they're good for their purpose.

I remember for my cousins barmitzvah, we all took home so many helium balloons and then we put them in the computer room and by the next morning, they'd wilted. They're so cool when they're up and strong, but when they will I'm like, "aw, poop".

So I just wrote about 4 paragraphs on why I like balloons.