Ocsar - Not a film starring Sly Stallone

I have been gone and for that, my apologies.

Things have got out of hand again and writing my blog on top of writing words for my uni course and work has become a bit of a chore. Plus I not sure I have anything to add to the world just at the moment (not that anything I’ve ever said on here has ever had an effect on the grand scheme of things).

That said I feel I have to express my feelings about the Oscars last night.

Why does channel nine insist on not allowing enough time to show the whole broadcast. They ALWAYS run for nearly three hours, but they only schedule two hours of programming including at least forty minutes of adverts.

Why did the academy think Jon Stewart was a good host choice? OK, OK he had his moments, but I cringed for him at the times you could hear crickets after a punch line.

Once again the outfits and bling was fabulous, but for me Helen Mirran out-shone everyone, including Nicole. She was wearing a beautiful red gown with diamante sleeves and every time I saw her I found myself talking to the telly…

‘Ohh the dress is fabulous.’
‘I love the dress.’
‘I wonder if those are diamonds or diamante?’

And when she present Daniel Day Lewis for Best Actor in a Lead Role and faux knighted him with Oscar I couldn’t help but release an excited squeal.

photo from a story in The New York Times and was taken by J. Emilio Flores

cong hi fat choi!

Apparently that’s Happy New Year in Chinese, if it's not and I offended anyone…sorry, but get in line, I seem to be doing that a lot lately.

Today, if you didn’t already know is the start of Chinese year of the Rat. I was born in a rat year so by all accounts I’m either going to have a most excellent year or a sh*t one. Let hope it’s the former, and that the sh*t left with the outgoing pig.

More Crap

As you may or may not be aware, but I’ve been having a bit of a time lately. Today it got just a little bit worse. But I’m still smiling.

First I got an email from my ex (forwarded) telling me a acquaintance from the alpaca industry had passed away at the weekend. This dear man was the victim of a rather nasty cancer that could have picked far more deserving people. E. was a regular church goer, a devoted husband to his lovely wife P. and a dotting father to 16 year old L. He couldn’t do enough for other and he was always there to help, advice or just be a shoulder to cry on. He also had one of the most wicked sense or humours I have come across in many years.

Then came another email. It was from the real estate agent. Apparently my landlord wants to renovate. I have 60 days to get out.

Rain Rain, Go Away

On my way to work this morning I didn’t get wet for the first time in days. There was a brief reprieve for the rain. We have hit February, traditionally the hottest month of the year, and it’s pissing with rain and sitting at about 23degrees, down to 20-21 over night.

I had a quick look at the TOA blog and it appears that he and many others feel the same. Enough already! I know we’ve been in drought for what seems like forever, but really can we have a little break, say until autumn, when it’s supposed to rain.

To cap it off, the roof started leaking last night. I got up to pee at just after 3 and stepped in something cold and wet…I’m ashamed to admit I thought Puss had puked, but after establishing that I had no solids between my toes and I had just felt a drip on my head I came to the conclusion that my little cottage was truly crap, just another thing in a long line of ‘things’.

So, please, those of you still doing rain dances. Give it a rest, so TOA can dry his kitchen out and I can have the roof fixed before the carpet goes mouldy.

Ohh My Todd!

You must go and see Sweeney Todd.

It's a bloody musical, no really it's bloody. But it's great.

Not So Happy Feet

I finally got to see Happy Feet tonight. It made me cry. I think I made be a bit emotional at the moment.

Happy Australia Day

I sent a select few a Happy Australia Day, Possum message today, what with it being Aussie Day and all. Most of the people where graceful and sent return greetings messages, but one sent a 'who are you?'

It was my sister who lives in Melbourne.

Lovely, don't you think?

Concert

After my excess musical viewing (48 bands, 69 times) last year I have started this year slowly. I have yet to see any live music action. Tamworth was on the horizon, but I have to work, so no long weekend amongst hunky cowboys and slender drummers for me.

However, yesterday like a bolt of lightning I remembered I have tickets to see Rufus Wainwright soon, Tuesday night in fact.

Who could I take with me?

I racked my brain for people who may have heard of him. Then came the ‘who would appreciate him?’ I came up with a couple of people, I ennie, meenie minie moed, then sent an email. Then I read a few blogs while I waited for a reply.

Turns out the person I invited was already seeing him. But on Wednesday.

Now he’s seeing him twice!

It’s going to be awesome!

Indulgence

A few things have happened recently that have led me down the path of another self indulgent blog post. The last time I put my feelings down I lost a friend, so I would like to clarify that I’m not having a go at anyone, this is my blog and about how I am currently feeling.

Anyway, I’ve been sick. All last weekend was spent in the bathroom, so my mood perfectly matched the weather, grey and stormy. I think this sickness has been brought about by me not getting enough sleep/rest because I am currently working two jobs. My normal 8.30 – 5 office job still happens, but straight after I go off to work until 2am as a receptionist. I get paid a pittance, but because of the Christmas/New Year office shutdown I had a two week enforced holiday and as a contractor I don’t get paid, but I still have to feed Puss. So second job it is. On the nights I am at home, Puss is pis*ed off with me and I hit the hay about 9.

On top of the tiredness I read a friends blog yesterday and it made me cry. He sounds so sad in his writings and I really wanted to be there to give him a hug, even if he would probably say ’Don’t touch me’. He’s alone and I’m alone with only 7500 kilometres and an ocean separating us.

These things came on top of Doughnut dying of tick poisoning and my Mum telling me that she wants to do herself in. Ok, so I know she’s ever the dramatist, but this time I think she really is in enough pain to do it. She lives in Spain and at this moment in time I am in no position, financially, to go to her, slap some sense into her and tell her that the life insurance doesn’t pay out if she tops herself.

I don’t quite know what to do with myself at the moment. Throw myself in the path of more debt and take off to foreign climes to comfort those that need to see me now or continue to grind myself into the floor for a trip that may come too late?

House Hunting

I went house hunting today. I’m going to put myself through another move. So I dared to go out in the rain (yes, it’s been chucking it down since yesterday mid morning) and traipsed around Surry Hills and Ultimo seeing five houses.

The first was faking as a Surry Hill residence due to creative imagination of the agent. It was most definitely in Redfern. It was also wholly unsuitable to be inhabited. Even the hoards of students waiting to split the weekly rent by four were curling their noses.

The second was the end unit in a row of six, over three floors with a new kitchen polished wood floors and carpeted stairs. It was beautiful with more storage than I could poke a stick at, but also the most expensive of my selection for the day.

The third is a few doors down from my favourite pub. Is this a good thing? The house itself was nice and clean, wooden floors, the kitchen was neat with new appliances. I quite liked it.

The fourth on the corner of Devonshire and Bourke. From the outside it looked OK, but inside was a disaster. The bathroom was outside! I looked upstairs out of curiosity, one room had raw wood floors, another had lino, and not new lino, the old stuff they use for printing. The last one was at the front and the only one that anyone could live in. I left and put the info sheet in the bin.

The last required a walk across town. Just behind Broadway shopping centre was a small row of houses. The one I was looking at had a separate office, two bathrooms, a garage and two bedrooms. It was neat, but had no outside area. The owners where in attendance and weren’t 100% sure about Puss, and I get the feeling the wife would be a pain in the arse landlady.

Now all I have to do is decide if I’m going to apply for any of these or go see the one I have lined up for Wednesday.

RIP Doughnut

The little cria Wispa had on the 3rd January passed away over night because of tick poisoning. The vet tried everything he could but as usual with these thing it was not to be. She only had a short life, but but it was a happy one on green grass with a mother who loved her.

Dogbox - part 2

OK, so I nearly had a heart attack at my desk just before lunch.

I was working hard, I had my headphones in to cut out noise (printer, snotter and people saying hello every two minutes, but not so loud I couldn't hear the buy behind me talking) when someone put their hands on my shoulders. My heart rate shot up, as did my BP (yes I felt it).

I jumped and shouted, 'Don't do that!'

He jumped and apoligised. 'but you were ignoring me.' he said.

'That's because you're standing behind me. If you want my attention stand in front of me and say hello!'

I can see the dogbox is going to bring issues with it.

Dogbox

I had to move desk today. I've had a lovely quiet corner for the last sixteen months, but due to my project managers attempt at empire building I've been moved to desk that is a foot smaller, on an aisle and is overlooked. It also happens to be further away from teh colour printer, right next to an old clunky black and white printer and two desks away from a guy who snorts all the time. I mean he hocks it up! It's foul!

I will survive... I hope.

On the plus side, June came round tonight for dinner, catch up and a game or three of Kerplunk!

Post 499

To coincide with my 500th post and the birth of 2008 I have decided to do another blog.

A purely pictorial one.

Every day (and I’ll back date it because I can) I will post a picture I have taken that day. I hope you enjoy looking at my life through pictures as much as I will enjoy snapping the moments.

Floral Porn

I was walking home tonight from work and saw a bush of hibiscus. It was beautiful, but because of the crappy overcast weather after several days of 30degrees and 95% humidity I only managed to get a decent shot of the stamen...

Wonder of Wonders

This morning I walked from my house at 859 knowing that the timetable says there should be a 301 to Circular Quay at 901 and a 303 to Martin Place at 903.

You can image my surprise when, just after I had sat down and got my book out, ready for a long wait a bus turned the corner. I was even more surprised when I got on the bus, put my ticket in the machine and it was spat it out with this on it…


I nearly said something pithy to the bus driver, but I didn’t want to be chucked off for making smart arse comments about the punctuality of buses, when it was likely his first day back after the Christmas holidays.

RIP Walter T. Pigeon

I woke this morning to find Walter, legs in the air and as stiff as a board. After wrapping him in kitchen towel I walked though the garden humming before placing him in his final resting place.


Walter the pigeon came to me in the third week of December as a teenager that had fallen from his nest. His parents were not around, so I took him home. He had no feathers on his tail or back. He lived in my laundry basket for a week or so before I put together an aviary over the Christmas break. He loved his new home…its floor was shell grit, he had pigeon mix and a water bath. He was happy and chirpy. Then he started losing weight. I was informed he had coccidiosis and nothing could be done.

Had I left him on the corner of Forveax and Elizabeth Streets, it’s highly likely he would have died then, but hopefully I was able to give him a few extra days of a happy life.

I'm a Grandma Again

- 'You're too close to my baby!'

At just before 1am the phone rang. It was Hubby and he had news. Wispa had had her cria on the 3rd January 2008. A little brown girl.

- I proudly present baby alpaca with her mother Wispa

- Life's taken it's toll already it seems

- 'I can feel the fly, but I can't reach it'

Whatever Next?

Cleaning supplies were required so I had to pop to the supermarket. It was a trip of realisations for me.

1st – the residents of Tuggerah have problems. They seem to be fat. Every third shop in the shopping centre appears to be a plus size shop and yet there is a Krispy Kreme in the middle of the main corridor. However, they all seem to have skinny feet, none of the shoe I tried on would fit.

2nd – retail marketing has gone insane. There were Easter eggs in Coles. It’s the 3rd January for crying out load.

3rd – blue wrens in this neck of the woods are a bit dumb. A beautiful pair have built a nest three feet from the house and only about eight inches off the ground. Thank god Puss didn’t want to go outside on this visit.

- Daddy Blue Wren with dinner

- Mummy Blue Wren

Day Two at Bucketlike

Puss wouldn’t leave the house. He sat on the doorstep and looked out. I think he’s got used to being an indoor cat. I had to leave him and pop down to the shopping centre, when I got I took the shopping into the kitchen and there was a business card from the real estate agent on the sink. It hadn’t been there when I left. So I called them, they had brought someone up while I was out. Was that OK?

I looked around, the dirty t-shirt and knickers from the previous day were in the middle of the lounge floor next to my pile of bags. D’oh!

I apologised for the state of the place and we had a laugh about the fact that I was there to clean but the bed wasn’t made and my bags where still in the lounge. The agent laughed and said, ‘really we didn’t even notice the bed wasn’t made.’

I went into the bedroom to check on Puss. The bedcovers were piled high, cushions where scattered around the room and on the bedside table, face up and proud was The Ultimate Guide to Fellatio*.

Kill me Now!


* How to go down on a man and give him mind blowing pleasure (ISBN 1-57344-151-1).