aka Kathleen

2012-01-24T10:08:00.002+08:00

Wanted to post my weight tracker on the bottom. It's still above my lowest weight after the last round of Medifast.

It's ok though. The pounds are still going down and that's the important thing. I just need to stick with it. I'm so impatient. I want to be skinny RIGHT NOW.

I think I've decided on my goals/rewards.

Goal 1: 255 lbs - new socks

Goal 2: 245 lbs - hair cut and color

Goal 3: 23o lbs - manicure

Goal 4: 215 lbs - new pants

Goal 5: under 200lbs! New shoes

Goal 6: 185 lbs - new sheets and towels

Goal 7: 170 lbs - start transition!!!!

Goal 8: 165lbs - whole makeover - shopping trip

Another Day Down

2012-01-23T18:19:00.002+08:00

Today was rough. I had to get up at 9am after not being able to fall asleep until after 2:30. I feel like I've been in a constant state of tired.

Medic time went well. We actually did some training and I thought it was good. D doesn't really seem to get the internship process but at least he is willing to work with me. Sometimes I worry that he's not telling me the right stuff though. I feel like I have to re-check what he tells me. Oh well, it can't hurt.

Work was awful. I am so tired of people getting away with piss poor work. There is one woman here who is completely worthless. She is never working and when she does answer a phone call she handles it completely wrong and makes a mess for the rest of us to clean up. The annoying thing is that she seems completely oblivious to her awfulness. Just like this place.

I'm kicking myself because I haven't been strictly on plan. After Friday's mess up I kind of got back on the wagon Sat. but I missed medifast meals and only had a few meatballs as my "lean&green". Today I was doing good but being up for 21 hours took it's toll. I ended up having an extra burger patty with cheese and not having a shake like I had planned.

Scale was down 2lbs today. 14.4lbs lost. Pants are fitting better but I still am grossly obese and ugly. Hopefully tomorrow is more successful. I really am just exhausted today.

Fell of the Wagon

2012-01-22T12:55:00.002+08:00

Friday night we had dinner for Kelly and her kids. My mom and I wanted to do something nice for her since she's been dealing with a lot of stress from her father's death and settling the estate.

I really wanted to stay on plan with Medifast but my mom made paella and Kelly brought a cherry pie. We also had cava sangria. I ate the paella. I didn't want to make it awkward having Kelly over for a dinner I wouldn't even eat. I tried to avoid a lot of the rice and stick with the shrimp though. I had it over salad and only a little sangria. I had a slice of pie though and totally regret it. Oh well. I started right back with the Medifast meals today.

Bad thing is I haven't taken my thyroid medication in a few days either. I've been really feeling off because of it. Today I only ate 3 of the medifast meals and 4 meatballs in place of a lean/green. I'm blaming it on sleeping in too late. Tomorrow will be a perfectly on plan day, including medications. The good news is I played Dance Central 2 for over 20 minutes tonight (straight dancing on the fitness mode) so at least I got some calories burned. My goal is to get a few miles in tomorrow.

I took "before" photos and measurements today. It is really upsetting how obese I am. I can not wait to lose weight. I'm going to try my hardest to stick with this and keep tracking everything.

TomTom and I went to Ikea tonight. I found a great table/storage for the kitchen and for downstairs. I just hope Gigantor goes along with the plan. Desk is finally in place so all that remains is to bring over the file cabinet and bookcase from my old room. Oh and put everything back in place and reorganize the closet. Not looking like that will happen until next 4 day break.

5 days till Cowboy Mouth!

Taco Salad Night

2012-01-20T12:56:00.002+08:00

I tried the Taco Salad idea I found on the web. I added bell pepper though and had less lettuce. I was pretty good. My mom joined me but added tortilla chips to her dinner.

I haven't been eating as regularly as I should today and am not at enough water intake so I'm going to chug some before starting a movie tonight. Otherwise I've been on plan since Monday with no problems. I feel fine although I have less energy when I'm working out and am slightly more sleepy. The scale dipped to 265 today. That's like 12 lbs down I think.

I really need to take my measurements so I can track them too. I also need to take a before photo. Aside from dieting related things, I am finally getting a desk in the house tomorrow. I'm also going to IKEA to see if I can't find some furniture to help with the storage mess at the house. TomTom will be helping me so I'm sure we will figure it out.

Today was less productive then it should have been. I'm going to be motivated tomorrow though, I promise. I'm currently stressed out about the paramedic internship. I just don't seem to be on the same wavelength as these people. It makes me so annoyed when their criticisms don't seem to add up at all. Tonight he scored me 2/5 and wrote that I didn't pay attention to taking vital signs. The truth is that I was paying very close attention, in fact I did a full set of orthostatic vital signs. Neither of them noticed though....

I keep telling myself just keep your head down and stick out the time so I can get released, tonight makes me question that though. If I keep getting low scores are they really going to let me take another test? I seriously don't want to have to make this a confrontation though so I'm just going to go with it for a few more times. I do have room to improve so maybe next time I'll blow them out of the water and they will shut up.

Downloaded a physics book to TomTom's ipad. Hope the $14 gets me everything I need for this semester. That would be amazing.

Off for more coffee and medifast bars

Back at It

2012-01-18T15:06:00.002+08:00

It is kind of sad to read the last post I made on this blog. I was doing so well at the time and now I'm back at the start and further behind. This time is definitely different. I am more determined then ever and in a place where success will be possible.

I've started Medifast again. I've also decided to use the community, internet, and blogging to support my efforts. I failed to do that last time and ended up stopping the program before finishing and never getting back on track. I think that chronicling my experience will help me identify pitfalls and will also be a great motivation.

So here's where I am at right now. I started Medifast last week. I have had a few "off plan" moments so far, including a drinking binge and eating too many carbs. That withstanding I am down 11.4lbs. I've cut down my exercise a bit but still feel pretty good, not too tired and not too crabby. I'm mostly eating Morningstar Farms patties and frozen steamer veggies for "Lean & Green" but have been mixing up the Medifast meals more than last time.

I really enjoy the Hot Chocoalte with coffee, something I would never have tried if not for the Medifast discussion boards. I'm still winning the 48mile challenge between my brother and my cousin somehow. Tommorrow I plan on getting another workout in, this time maybe adding weight training back in. I also can't wait to shop for some more leans and greens to try out during my break from work.

This post has been all over the place. In the future I'm going to try and be a little more thought out.

To Do List:

Improve blog design

Add an about me

Plan out next shift's meals

find a physics textbook

clean out the laundry room

scrub the kitchen including the baseboards

reorganize the kitchen to make more room/flow

bring desk to the house

purchase something to store stuff in kitchen

ask for a locker at station 12

Day 14

2009-11-07T04:13:00.002+08:00

I've spent two weeks on this diet. I haven't been perfect. Most of my failures have been eating all the medifast meals. I need to eat more and more often. Strange that I can't eat enough on this diet!

I am feeling amazing. So much energy. I've been working out like crazy. Today went to BodyPump class that Rik taught. It was soooooooo difficult. I thought I wasn't going to make it. An hour of light (felt heavy) weights all to music. We lunged, we did push ups, squats, bicep curls, should presses, sit ups, triceps, more lunges, dead lifts, rows, etc.

Then I got on the elliptical and went for 50 minutes! I did a little over 4 miles. Slower then usual but still good. I was on intensity level 5 too.

Got a tape measure to track inches lost. I am fitting into smaller jeans which is awesome but I still have a huge gut. I know my legs are stronger and leaner and my arms are definitely stronger. I have improved my cardio but I'm still terrible. I am also terrible at push ups. I think my new goals for this week will be to focus on lower abs and chest. I want to do a push up!!

I guess the hardest thing will be the one I want the most - getting a slim waist. One day I will have a six pack. I am determined.

Day 7

2009-10-30T10:25:00.001+08:00

One week down! This diet is so easy. I love how easy everything (except maybe the soup) is to make.

My favorites are the bars and the shakes because they are so fast and taste really good. Twice now people have thought they smelled candy bars while I was eating them.

My co-worker called the oatmeal paste, I think she's right but adding cinnamon has helped. I liked the chicken noodle soup but I'm still avoiding the chicken and rice. Eventually I'll have to eat it again I guess.

Has anyone tried just eating the shakes, bars, and pudding? I think I might. Also I can't eat enough it seems. I've only been eating about 5 ounces when I make chicken and that seems like so much. This sounds weird but I'm never hungry anymore and I feel like I'm always eating - and I have yet to have the optional snack. Am I doing something wrong?

I've been terrible at keeping track of what and when I eat. I got a little notebook to carry around to better document the experience. I didn't even realize people had commented on this blog. Thanks so much! It was a great boost to see tonight.

I thought exercising would be harder but I've got an overwhelming amount of energy. I ran 17 minutes at 5mph without stopping yesterday, did crunches and calf raises then went home and walked with my dad. It was amazing.

Today I spent 30 minutes lifting with my personal trainer, 20 minutes running, then 30 minutes in an abs class! Still having trouble getting all my meals in though. Banana pudding in the fridge now and then I'm finished for the day.

Day 2

2009-10-25T00:58:00.003+08:00

So yesterday went well. I was hungry but far less then I thought I would be. Though I was tired and had a headache which that damn bird didn't help. I really hate that bird.

I like the shakes the best so far. Not a huge fan of the oatmeal or the soup. Pudding is good but sweet.

I am down to 257 this morning. I think it is more due to weighing at a different time. I need to pick one time and stick with it. Oh well.

So yesterday I ate:
Maple/Brown Sugar Oatmeal
Chocolate Shake
Chicken/Rice Soup
Chicken breast and frozen vegetables
Chocolate Shake

Today I woke up around 11 and started with a Vanilla Shake at 12. I am worried I am going to be super tired trying to work through the night.

Wii Fit and then perhaps a pre work nap!

Tomorrow!

2009-10-23T07:42:00.003+08:00

So I am starting my first ever diet tomorrow and I am very excited.

I want to track my progress, trials, tribulations, successes, and failures. I figured this would be an easy forum to do that in.

Like before I am skeptical that I will keep up the blogging but always a chance. I have never been this motivated before. I also have my trainer Rik and my mom to keep me going. I think this is going to be an amazing jump start to finally becoming health, fit, and active.

Tomorrow will be day 1 on the Medifast 5-1 plan. I can't wait to see what happens these next 4 weeks.

Start weight: 263 pds
Pant size - 20
Bra size - 44D
BMI -36.8

Wish me luck!

remarkable

2009-04-24T09:10:00.002+08:00

uva girl is ridiculous. she makes this class unbearable.

time was just called on her presentation and she said well i have a conclusion so i am going to continue.

also she said don't eat raw oysters because i TAed in a nutrition class for 2 yrs and they are bottom feeders.......

I am extremely pleased I didn't go to UVA.

2009-04-16T11:26:00.002+08:00

at work - - - - - - -

very much dislike it. oh well. at least i have a steady paycheck coming in. only 6.5 hours left on this shift....then 12 tomorrow and off for 4 days (minus the 1/2 shift i am covering on sunday).

so tired tonight. got up early to work out w/ rik at the gym and now am paying for it. my arms are tired but not as bad as usual. i think i am getting better at lifting weights.

i also think i am being punished for not knowing the geography of the west end. i had west end twice last shift and three times this shift. betty is also dropping hints about learning the geo...

guess i'll have to just get with the program and head west to learn it better. why can't i just specialize in east like the officers do?

betty is also wanting me to train on fire radio...i guess i'd be chill with that depending on who trains me. i don't particularly want to sit with some of these ladies for any extended period of time.

yearly? update

2009-03-27T13:16:00.002+09:00

i am getting published in a journal.

it is exciting, i can't wait to see it in print. at the same time it makes me realize how little i write these days. i rarely write anything creative, mostly just school work.

i'd resolve to blog more but that doesn't seem to work for me. maybe i need to find a topic and stick with it. i could write about ems calls like everyone else at the station. i could write about 911 calls. maybe i'll figure something out, until then i'll sporadically update with a mish mash.

hey i'm a soon to be published author, i can write about whatever.

perhaps i should get back to my stimulus package analysis paper now....

being a paramedic

2008-10-18T10:01:00.002+08:00

so i did manage to book boston. i can't wait to see ludacris and halloween in boston. i have a feeling i'm going to love it.

more things i'm looking forward too -
next weekend's halloween party in louisville
semester being over
being released as a dispatcher
thanksgiving

to do -
study/paper/projects for school
organize
find a costume
i just forgot.......

tonight i'm at duty on the ambulance. i'm still working towards becoming a released paramedic in the county. it doesn't seem like i'm getting anywhere. it is frustrating not to be able to staff regularly or to keep up a pace on this precepting. at times being a paramedic seems more work then it is worth. in any case that's the hat i'm wearing tonight

i miss pittsburgh. i wish i was at ja's party instead. i also miss not living in the suburbs and $1 drafts. i think sometimes i wouldn't mind giving up everything here and just heading to a city somewhere to continue school. i think i'd have quit the whole paramedic thing a while ago if i didn't enjoy the people around here.

for all their faults and short comings, volunteers are pretty great people. of course i'm lumping everyone together here and definitely generalizing but its not too far off, besides the exemptions prove the rule right? i think someone could write a book entirely based on the people that revolve in and out of the station, maybe even more interestingly then one about the calls. the medic sitting next to me was just discussing turning his blog into a book - which reminded me to update this.

i'm generally not a fan of "war story" blogs because they tend to be overly dramatic and paint firefighters/medics as do no wrong hero/gods, but the post i read from his was pretty funny - i think he may have something. in case i'd probably buy it just to see.

screwed time clock

2008-09-15T14:06:00.002+08:00

i should be sleeping but i'm pretty much awake. this rotating shift is killer.

in any case i'm not being productive. i need to plan and book things for my trip to boston. i also have tons of reading and homework i could do. tomorrow i vow to finish my econ, create some sort of presentation for wednesday, book a ticket, and start stat homework.

i'm also going to the gym - in the morning. then i am cooking some of the amazing veg i got at the farmer's market today.

currently listening to stolen- - never tire of the song. loving the new genius feature of itunes. excited about a possible weekend of visiting from the pitt kids. although that means that i will have to make up with steph. i'm still really annoyed and pretty sure she has no idea. (strange because i made myself hella clear) i want an apology but i can't bring myself to ask for one.

i think i'm still unsure of the whole situation which is hindering any resolution. the only thing i'm really convinced of was that i shouldn't have been left alone. oh well.

Very Tired

2008-09-13T16:38:00.002+08:00

It has been quite a long week. This time last week I was working on medic time and it doesn't seem like I've had a chance to sleep since then. (of course I have but not well and not for long enough).

Sat was Dustin's going away party which was not what I expected. I really enjoy him and his family, shame they are headed to CA. Sunday followed with more medic time and a large auto accident in which I managed to make a bloody mess of the ambulance.

Work Monday was hectic - not enough people and way too many major incidents going on. Class Monday night ran over again and was unbearable. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday - all much of the same, work, class, lots of driving back and forth.

Today was the worst though. After working all night I had to stay up till 1pm today. I got in a quick nap and was back at work at 5:30pm. Now I about ready to pass out but I have to teach a CPR class at 8am. This is definitely burning the candle at both ends.

I think it wouldn't have been so bad if the calls tonight weren't all absolutely ridiculous and challenging. I think I got very close to telling a caller to shut up. My conclusion is that citizens in general are hot messes.

Hopefully the CPR class goes smoothly.....

how many times can you turn over the leaf?

2008-09-05T14:34:00.002+08:00

regardless of my intentions i never really kept this up. i have a significant amount of down time at work now that i'm on a rotating shift so the idea is to turn over a new leaf and keep the blog updating. it really is to kill to birds with one stone - blog regularly and stay awake through the boring hours of the early morning. perhaps it will even have the benefit of improving my writing. in any case here goes:

the current situation:

living - @home w/ the parents
working - 911 calltaker/police dispatcher trainee
part time - substitute teacher and cpr/first aid instructor
volunteering - still at the rescue squad only now i'm a paramedic
school - grad school working on master of public policy in my 3rd semester

so my idea is really to use this blog as a diary/journal and see how it goes. right now i feel like writing about frustrations at work.

i'm very tired of hearing the everyone does it differently and that's ok. it's empty meaningless rhetoric when every trainer makes negative comments when you don't follow their preferences. they are biased and they rate your work with those biases, i don't care how much rhetoric the supervisors spew. one day i'll be given written instruction to use a certain computer command more and the very next day someone else will give written criticism for using that command too much. it is unbelievably frustrating.

also - your skill level is not directly correlated to the amount of time you've been doing something. i've been singing in the shower for years but i still am completely off key and probably off beat. just let me do my thing i'll let you do yours and i can pretty much guarentee i'll end up doing more work and of a highly quality then you.

London

2008-03-10T10:11:00.000+09:00

So I went to London. It was awesome.

2007-12-16T10:46:00.000+09:00

Advanced Global Personality Test Results

Extraversion	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	46%
Stability	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	53%
Orderliness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Accommodation	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Interdependence	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Intellectual	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%
Mystical	\|\|\|\|	16%
Artistic	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Religious	\|\|\|\|\|\|	23%
Hedonism	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Materialism	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Narcissism	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Adventurousness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Work ethic	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%
Self absorbed	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	36%
Conflict seeking	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Need to dominate	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%

Romantic	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Avoidant	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%
Anti-authority	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Wealth	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	36%
Dependency	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Change averse	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	36%
Cautiousness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Individuality	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Sexuality	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Peter pan complex	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Physical security	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	83%
Physical fitness	\|\|	10%
Histrionic	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Paranoia	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Vanity	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	36%
Hypersensitivity	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Indie	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%

Stability results were medium which suggests you are moderately relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic.

Orderliness results were medium which suggests you are moderately organized, hard working, and reliable while still remaining flexible, efficient, and fun.

Extraversion results were medium which suggests you are moderately talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting.

trait snapshot:
changeable, in the middle, suspicious, somewhat traditional, dislikes chaos, down to earth, group oriented, practical... you scored in the middle on the overall factors of this test.

weddings and northbridges

2006-06-06T18:15:00.000+08:00

So the usual weekend update on things here in Australia. It started out as a rough week. Week 12 was not my friend. I managed to pull the weekend together and get some work done. Tuesday we had an impromptu party and made cookies. Wednesday we woke ourselves up by jumping into the ocean. Swimming was great.Oh I forgot! Tuesday I was the maid of honor at a wedding. Mass on campus is on Tuesdays and this particular Tuesday Father Michael asked me to be a witness for a wedding. Well I said yes and did so wearing thongs and a Kentucky Derby t-shirt, classy. The couple was so nice. They had a church wedding almost a year ago in the bride?s native country, Hungry. However, because of some laws remaining from when it was communist the marriage wasn?t legally binding here in Australia. They seem like a great couple that will be married a long time. We had a small reception with amazing cheesecake and champagne. I love Australia and how laid back everything is.

So then Wednesday I was up early and did the class/work thing before hitting the beach in the afternoon. It was cold but fun. The waves were ridiculous and I got crushed multiple times. Very fun indeed. That evening I watched a scaryish Austrian film with Grace and hit the sack early. It was quite cold.

Thursday was full of class and not fun things. I am glad it passed. Amber's friend from Pittsburgh is over so we took him to the tavern. Although not the usual crowd of drunken people we had a great time. Amber is really fun and it was nice not to have drunk people falling all over you. Enjoyable I'd say.

Friday I wrote a paper, straightened out the annoying issues festering all week and headed to class. The tutorials were good. After my philosophy tutorial I sat in on a seminar/lecture/panel discussion on euthanasia. It was quite interesting and a shame that some of the first year bio-med students that were required to go couldn't pay attention. In any case I didn't get back to the flat until almost 5. Zane and I were both pretty hungry so he made me dinner. It was tasty. His birthday is on Monday so it was his pick amongst his friends on where to go and what to do. Amber invited me out with her and the boys. As Mariko and Steph were dragging I happily agreed. It ended up that Zane decided to come out with me and my friends. Like Mariko and Steph his friends couldn't be bothered to get their acts together. I think it worked out for the best.

The four of us (Amber, boyfriend, and PITT friend, me) had dinner (dessert for me) in Subiaco, a trendy part of the city and then met Zane and Elena (aka Canada) in Northbridge, the nightclub district of the city. Now I was apprehensive because everyone had been negative about the city, but they were so wrong! Amber and her boys headed off early, the boys were sort of tired and grumpy. I stayed with Zane and Elena and we had a great time. The first place was real laid back and chill. Then Zane picked a ridiculous middle-age to old venue. A crazy silk shirt clad grandpa kept dancing with Elena. Zane and I laughed our heads off. Then to the Mustang Bar which was the best. The live band was fun, the crowd was perfect, just an overall fun mood. I realized about an hour later it was the bar we ended up in after the wine tour. Nice place during the day and at night too. We randomly ran into Andrea and Jess from the outback trip along with some of their Perth friends I had previously met. It was quite fun. Zane was as usual incredibly friendly with the entire bar. I'd say it was a top night.

Today was a day of work. Listening to recorded lectures and enhancing notes in preparation for the test next week. I took a nap. I'd say it was dull save for the Hamburger Helper feast Mariko and I had for dinner. There is a chance we will head to Freo tonight to celebrate Zane's birthday. Not sure. I'm still buzzing from last night so anything is fine.

Hope everyone back home is having a nice memorial day weekend!

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

2006-05-21T18:27:00.000+08:00

So I’m listening to a mellow Stereophonics song as the sun is beginning to fade here in Perth. I can start to feel it getting colder and the shadows on the flats outside my window are reaching into the bushes. I’m swaying a bit and enjoying the music. This week has been nice. It’s been a mixture of working hard, slacking off, worrying, casually hanging around, and some serious fun.

With my paper finished and turned in on Monday, I focused my attention on the philosophy presentation scheduled for Friday. I was giving a ten-minute talk on whether intervention was justified in cases of human rights violations. It would then be followed by questions and a discussion, on which I had to write a 1,000-word paper. So I sat down to do the assigned readings for the week hoping to get some sort of inspiration. It took me an hour to get through the first ten pages. I’ve never read anything so hard to comprehend. It was looking like this presentation would be much harder then I anticipated.

I spent most of this week trudging through Rawls writings on international justice and the other books on the reserve shelf at the library. Tuesday and Wednesday were a flash. I had some movies to catch up with for Australian cinema as well. The films were a nice diversion from philosophy. Somersault had a bit too much sex and I felt more drawn to the supporting actor then to the main actress but it was entertaining. I found myself pondering how I would have changed the story and then realized that my changes would have made it incredibly boring and much like a Liz Frank illustrated folder. Garry had also given me a copy of White Fellas Dreaming a documentary on Australian cinema. I found it interesting oddly enough.

Mariko and I made Steph a cake Wednesday night. It was rather fun and much like our usual adventures silly. Everyone sort of passed out early Wednesday night, I think it had to do with Mariko cooking us dinner, too much of a shock. But Thursday morning still came about too quickly. I spoke to my dad who called altogether too early (sometime around 1-2am I believe) but I was still glad to hear from him. I’m torn between hoping he gets the independent contractor gig and wanting him to come travel on the East coast with me. Either way I’ll be happy, so no downside.

The conversation left me a bit tired in class but Australian cinema showed a violent yet funny film which kept me awake and amped me up for the rest of the day, or so I thought. I came back, iced the cake and with the help of Mariko and Zane sang to Steph who was in the process of turning 20. She and Sarah were marinating fruit in vodka for the occasion. Sarah, as any good flat mate would, had decided to throw Steph a pre-tavern birthday bash involving a vodka goon punch and chicken curry. Zane quickly retreated with a look of fear in his eyes after seeing the vast quantities of cheap vodka. I grabbed my books, a highlighter, stuck a pencil in my hair, and ran to hide in the reserve section of the library.

Around 3 o’clock, I awoke from a deep slumber amidst human rights philosophy. I had fallen asleep in the library. I thought I heard snickering as I shook myself awake and continued to sort of some solution to the impending presentation. It seemed that I was doomed to have no answer so I collected my studying tools and headed back to my flat. Mariko and I took a walk up to the bottle shop to find a suitable gift for Steph. Mariko had bought a shot glass so I decided a ridiculously horrible bottle of Everglades Strawberry Spirits was the perfect companion. At $10 and 21.9% alcohol it couldn’t be beat, not to mention it was a change from the goon I was sure she’d get. So I went to pay for it and was hassled by the cashier. Now I would have been perfectly happy if he asked Mariko and I to leave and return with her id, I had mine but she looks 12 and they could be seen as selling to me to provide to a minor. He said it wasn’t necessary and took my money. But he was quite rude, threw the receipt down and started talking to someone else. The shop wasn’t busy and nor was I impolite. I asked him nicely if I could have a bag and the receipt (I couldn’t reach where he had thrown it). He gave me the bag and Mariko and I left. I don’t buy alcohol much, but if I need to in the future, I won’t be returning to that shop.

Anyway, I got some great photos at Steph’s party, had many laughs, tried the punch, and played with Larry (the rat Sarah bought her as a present). The tavern’s theme was Australian and people went all out for the last theme night of the semester. A few people covered themselves in black and went as aboriginals. Mostly people wore a variety of Australian flags. Bridget even came out. Mariko sang an interesting rendition of the Australian National Anthem, which went “Oh say can you see by the amazing grace...” I captured it on video. I’m quite happy I did. After much frolicking and silliness, we returned to the student village. Mariko tried to fight people as usual, a Texan mooned us, more singing and now flat 104 is 3 glasses, 2 jugs (pitchers) and a pair of tongs wealthier. Well Mariko demanded to talk to my brother Billy (not a clue as to why) but ended up talking to an Irish and American friend instead. It was quite comical as she loved the accents and proposed to both.

Friday was the presentation and I managed to make a compelling argument against intervention even though I had no idea what I was talking about. I think I’ll pull through if I can get the two papers finished decently. After the ruckus of Thursday, everyone pretty much passed out on Friday. Bridget was asleep on our couch, Mariko passed out fully clothed during an attempt to watch a movie (around 5 I think) and I wasn’t far behind hitting the sack 10ish.

I woke up around 6 am on Saturday, couldn’t be bothered making breakfast so after some FreeCell I headed back to sleep. Mariko and I missioned up the shops and got some groceries after a failed attempt to go picnicking. On our return, Sarah and Steph demanded we go out dancing for the evening. The preparations began but eventually fell through. I did blow dry my hair which is straight and down. Instead, Mariko and I watched movies, Count of Monte Cristo and half of Pride and Prejudice, which I fell asleep to half way in so we called it a night around 2. It was pleasant as times with Mariko usually are.

Today was studying and talking online. I showed Stephen www.furnitureporn.com and laughed at the memory of “Rose Porn” and silly times at Pitt. I found a new website of interest, http://rockass.net/allmyjobs, to waste internet quota on. Mariko missioned over to eat chocolate and pretzels (closest thing to chocolate covered pretzels that are long gone and digested) while drooling over Mr. Darcy and Stephen (who Mariko is now engaged too in some weird Skype sense).

The trees are orange now and the chill is definite in the air. Another mellow English band is playing, the other kids have left to see a band in Fremantle, and this post has become longer then anyone has patience to read. I feel bad for the poor bloke that has had so many jobs, simultaneously jealous but glad I managed to finish high school and will soon be unemployed with a college degree I have no idea how to use. I was homesick this morning when I heard everyone having so much fun. Now the sun has set, I need to make tea (dinner), thinking about having some tea, and hoping I can bust out the paper all tonight. Thanks for the kool-aid, the phone calls, and the laughs. I’ll be home in a month, until then I’ll just bung it in the oven, she’ll be all right mate.

just another manic monday

2006-05-15T13:41:00.000+08:00

hope all you mothers out there had a loverly sunday. i'm sure your kids were lovely and made you breakfast or cleaned their rooms but of course that doesn't compare to the wonderful paint drawing i hand crafted for my mum. it is obvious that i am by far the best daughter my mother has, those sons of hers can't even compare to my insanely amazing gift.

anyway, my light broke yesterday, well actually i think it started breaking saturday. it was flickering much like a strobe light, that while awesome for the dance party i had planned, didn't help write the paper that was due today. of course they can't change light bulbs on the weekend, but here is a dinky study lamp mate. thanks mate. no worries though, i managed to write all nine pages and print it off with plenty of today left to lounge in my hammock. oh wait, its rainy. drat. well then tomorrow i'll lounge in the hammock.

i finally finished off the leftovers. man that was a task. i am thinking i'll avoid rice for a while. shrimp too. although a milkshake would be quite nice. hmm, maybe i'll investigate that.

p.s. my birthday is in three weeks! two decades yo.

OLE!

2006-05-13T15:55:00.000+08:00

wednesday was such a lazy day. in the evening i wandered over to steph's flat where we randomly decided we'd cook the crazy odds and ends around our houses (mariko, sarah, steph and i). we walked up to the store to grab some vanilla ice cream and brown sugar and i got the stuff for paella. it was a laugh of a walk and when we got back it was pretty crazy how nicely the spurr of the moment meal came together. we had steak, mashed potatoes, carrots, burnt butter cauliflower, and for dessert, apple brown betty's with carmel sauce and ice cream. as the week had us slightly run down (steph was sick as well, with a sinus something or other) we all had madre's cureall hot tottie drink. it was quite a nice meal.

thursday i studied outside in my hammock with mariko. it was nice reading outside. then i leisurely made paella. it took a while but was well worth it. i put in the rice of course, chicken, sausage, prawns, red capsicum, carrot, scallions, white onion, diced tomatoes, peas, asparagus, minced garlic, paprika, salt, pepper, and a bit of butter. turned out quite nicely. there are tons of left overs too so that is awesome. everyone loved it. bridget wants the recipe.

so thursday night is usually tavern night. i went to the library to work until it closed at 1030 or so then walked over to the campus tavern with steph, mariko, and the other kids. the music was its usual oldie moldy's that my parents would like (think jailhouse rock). but the NW trip kids were there again so that was fun. One of the germans yelled at me for never being on bush court and seeing them. I even saw Mariko's totally shy roommate Adam and his equallu shy friend Luke there. Granted they were sitting at a table outside and didn't come in and dance with the girls, but still a step in the right direction. I figure btw steph, mariko and myself we'll get them mingling in no time.

so while everyone was partying i snuck back and met grace in the village. we had a bit of fun in steph's room which she never locks. she still has no idea it was we who flipped everything (i do mean everything, even her backpack was inside out) upside down. it was good fun. well i was tired and departed back to bed after the fun of her reaction.

friday was packed with tutorials. foreign policy wasn't too bad, we debated whether middle power diplomacy hurts australia's relations with the US. I was on the aff side and we won. The negs tried to weasle out with an ill conceived plan of saying Australia isn't a middle power. then on to philosophy where we had a library tour (i'm not kidding, this is also an upper level course) and learn how to search. the rest of the class wasn't too bad, chatted about oppression and such. i walked back with one of the older men in the class and chatted about the professor's unique style. we both are presenting next week. should be interesting and hopefully not too hard. i'm talking about the moral and political philosophy of human rights.

last night zane's footie team was playing roland's so the boys watched the game in our flat, which of course led to yelling, drinking, and all that accompanies boys watching football. it was pretty fun and quite australian. Oh! I forgot, Steph and I walked to the shops yesterday afternoon and I splurged on two movie magazines (which are totally educational as i am a film student and they aren't smut like cosmo mom) which i am so enjoying. other then that it was a quiet evening with reading and chatting with some friends online.

today has been paper writing prision. i forgot to eat lunch until 4 when i realized i was mighty hungry. a ham and cheese sandwhich down the hatch and a bit of a break for blog updating then i'll be back at work critically explaining whether australia's middle power diplomacy aids, hinders, or is irrelevant to Australia's performance in the following issue areas: the war on terror, relations with East Asia, and the ANZUS alliance (hey all you americans out there that the US - Australia - New Zealand alliance. they really care about it here).

so this weekend i shall be hard at work. thanks for sharing the derby photos! looks like you guys (especially billy) had a good time. i'll be putting my spanish feast triumph photos on flickr after i post this, so watch out! and i realize i need to put more photos up, it just takes forever!

cheers loves!

feeling better

2006-05-09T12:23:00.000+08:00

feeling better today. really craving a meatball sub. probably going to make a pasta bake instead. madre you should ring me when you wake up today (tuesday).

i finally was able to fall asleep this morning for a couple hours straight. i think i am going for a repeat in a bit. the flat is a wreak from ben's birthday party last night. it was pretty funny. loverly amber even came over. i watched the festivities for a while then locked myself in my room. i could hear the silliness just fine from bed. those kids make me chuckle. australia is a fun place.

well i am off to check the mail (come on oatmeal!) and to maybe watch a movie. movies are half price today and they always make you unsicker. it is a rule of the universe. just like couches. couches have great healing powers. just take my dad for example, a couch, some john wayne movies, and me making him ginger ale and lunch made him all better. except i think in his case a couch was substituted for a lazy boy, but they are cousins so it was all good.

now i just need to wrestle me up some lunch. although not for another 20 minutes. this crazy pattern of medicine is driving me crazy. i've taken 6 today, only 10 to go. everyother time on an empty stomach, then next on a full one. it seems to be working though.

alright folks, my inbox has been empty of east coast news and i have plenty of time to read and respond at the moment, so send me news! also can your head shrink? i think mine is. my glasses keep falling off.

while the laundry is drying

2006-05-08T13:23:00.000+08:00

so i am trying to be frugal and line dry my clothes instead of putting them in the dryer. i am proud of myself as it is much more work. the water in student village is turned off. i think i am going to head up to the library prior to taking a nap after i bring the laundry in.

here's the update, i have a "severe case of tonsilitis" according to the doctor on campus (a very nice lady, helped me with the broken cheek issue). this morning i was basically crying in pain trying to get a glass of water down. the good news is that she hooked me up with some pain killers and penicillin. i have to say i am still not seeing the benifits of having tonsils. but madre would be proud of me as i had some soup earlier (even though i am not a huge soup fan). i think i'll steal some of zane's eggs and have an omlet tonight. i am actually starving as i didn't eat the other days.

i tried to take a nap (you'd think not sleeping for a few days would make me pass out right?) but i still am too uncomfortable to fall asleep. i figure i'll just press on and have a real good sleep this evening. glad i don't have classes monday and tuesday. i'm very excited for wednesday because either madre's package or my CD from england will be showing up (well maybe not till friday but i can start hoping wednesday). i love mail, especially madre mail because it usually comes with candy and oatmeal type goodies.

so surprisingly i am quite upbeat, currently jamming to some music and debating that trip to the library. i guess when the morning is hell rotten the day can only get better. so thanks to willie for the trip to the chemist and food store, thanks for the "get better soons" and no worries, i'll be alright.

oh and sat. i got to go to the footie. it was a derby, meaning freo vs. westcoast. westcoast eagles are basically perth's team and fremantle dockers are the suburb of perth's team. the stadium was packed and the game was pretty much tied up until the last 2 minutes. a very good time experiencing the australian rules football. so swollen throat or not, i'm having a good time down under. check out flickr for the footie photos!

photos! well almost

2006-05-04T18:59:00.000+08:00

*update! the link is http://www.flickr.com/photos/ktotheoco/ and i put a couple outback pictures up. will do more but it takes bloody forever.

i finally set up a flickr account. the name is oc in oz of course. i will upload photos shortly, i promise!

this week

2006-05-04T18:38:00.000+08:00

so it has gone by immensely fast. monday was a blur. i spent all day cleaning the flat. i scrub (literally) the bathrooms and the kitchen. my flatmates thought i was crazy. but now our house is clean. tuesday mariko, steph, and i went shopping for sloppy joe ingredients. i ended up getting a pair of 12 dollar shoes as my other two shoes have holes in them. (i'm walking a lot) and we had a fantastic lunch outing.

i tried to get ingredients to make biscuits but i couldn't find crisco shortening. after a conference with two ladies that thought i was insane (biscuits are cookies here and they would never put gravy on them, gross) i found the shortening in the butter section.

we hurried home to scrub mariko's kitchen. it was her chore and we had walk throughs that night. i've never seen a grosser kitchen. it took top mop heads and two times through to get the floor decent. ( i still wouldn't have eaten off it or walked barefoot) then we baked aussie biscuits and american ones together! it was a smash. i made sloppy joes for zane, mariko, and cameron. the aussies had a very american elementary school dinner, sloppy joes, canned corn, and kool-aid. steph and i enjoyed watching them struggle with the super hot sloppy joes. it was hilarious. i bought new white board markers as ours died so the whole time people were drawing notes and sticking post-its to eachother. quite fun and childish like the meal.

cameron stayed to watch big brother with us ladies. after he left steph and mariko thought it highly amusing to tease me about liking him (which I don't). of course we had a good laugh and then respectively headed home.

yesterday i woke up at 6am! i baked some more biscuits from scratch and made up some gravy. i put on some coffee and toasted bagels. only zane and mariko showed up for brekky but i enjoyed the biscuits and gravy. so tasty. later that afternoon the girls and i headed down to fremantle to hit the salvation army/ good will type shops. the tavern's theme tonight is mismatched clothes. we all found some ridiculous stuff so it should be good.

we got back and steph and i BBQed sausages and pumpkin. i mixed up some potatoes as well. zane and mariko joined us and we ate like total college kids, over the sink or the bin. it was great. zane made us all bowls of ice cream for desert. steph had work to do but mariko and i watched movies, prime and domino. not bad at all.

today i locked myself in my room (literally) and spent the entire morning/afternoon reading. then i watched the new charlie and the chocolate factory, which i liked but not as much as the gene wilder one. so now i am at the library listening to one of my new favorite songs :

Amerikan Folk Song - Gary Dunne

he is an irish folk singer. very nice i think so. this weekend is looking promising. tomorrow is a chill day, a couple classes and some work i imagine. then making jello with steph. sat. is the footie and both sam and ben's birthdays. they are planning to start the party at noon and go until at least sunday night.

the paper i've been working on has been extended a week. life is grand. i miss everyone at home like crazy. i hope you are all having fun celebrating graduations and turning 21 and such. hope to hear from everyone soon!

last week

2006-05-04T18:15:00.000+08:00

So coming back from the outback left lots of work to do and lots of people to catch up with. zane ate my food while I was gone so I had to go shopping as well. (it is okay though I told him to eat the stuff that would have gone bad) time is seriously flying by. thursday we all met up again at the tavern, it was ridiculously fun. all the kids from the trip were there almost. i kept making logan dance with us. we ended back up in mariko's house for pizza. it was quite an interesting evening.

friday was a good day of classes. no one really showed up. my lecture was dead. the tutorial for politics was full but we didn't discuss anything really. then only 3 people showed up for philosophy. apparently going to class here isn't a big thing. oh well. at least the classes went fast. i movied it up friday night and caught up on some reading. logan came over for a late lunch. it was a good day overall.

saturday was insane. INSANE! We went shopping for chili ingredients and that was an adventure in itself. Steph made a huge vat of chili and a chocolate cake. we threw roland (reginald) a late birthday party. we sat out in the courtyard and played a card game called f*** you. (i know madre, i shouldn't say curse words) well some random girl walked by and jacob (steph's friend) called her over. she ended up leaving and coming back and partying with us the whole night. it was great! anyway at 8:30 we were told to take it inside because we were too loud. (student village is insane. i bet the kentucky crowd and my parents would have been kicked out by now if they had a party here) so we went back to my flat.

at this point we had amassed about 15? people and the hilarity of the game ensued. Adam the little freshman that lives with Mariko came out of his shell. Around 10 we headed to a party at flat 10, which turned out to be disappointing. The RAs busted it up shortly and most people headed to Freo. I realized this would be a bad idea with my little crowd, not to mention expensive. So I convinced them (Steph, Justin, Kym, Branwyn - random chick from earlier, and Adam) to walk across the road to Amber's house with me. She was having a pimps and hoes party. It was quite fun there. I walked Justin home and we met Cameron (who had made chips for me at the party we had at my house on Monday) After putting Justin to bed Cameron and I headed back to the party.

i met a very nice guy from zimbabwe who used to have a pet lion and a pet cheetah. he said the cheetah purred so loud at night when it slept on his bed. well cameron and i didn't stay too long, we left by 3 or so i think. steph and the others ended up staying till 6 or so. cameron came back with me and made some chips again. katie had come back from her friend's and had some chips with us. cameron gave me the hugest hug in the world (even with the lift off the ground part) then headed out.

sunday zane was mad sick so we cooked for him and tucked him into bed. a girl from the NW trip came over at this point (Grace, she is from Hawaii) and remarked we eat like stoners. At that point we had just had ham and cheese wraps, plain rice, and waffles with chocolate ice cream. grace, the girls and i headed out to see a free concert.

it was sabina's idea. we took the bus to the train to another train then walked a kio to get there long after the concert ended. oh well, it was a fun adventure full of laughs. when we got back zane and i had bacon and egg sandwhiches on burritos. it was a good day.

OC in the Outback

2006-05-02T21:42:00.000+08:00

So sorry it has taken forever for me to update. Things have really picked up here down under. Also I am pretty lazy.

So two weeks ago I was in the outback. It was quite a good time, I’d say one of the better times of this trip. As it was, it went by in a flash. Ten days is a lot of adventures though so I’ll try to give the short story of the best ones.

It was a lot of driving on the bus of which I spent most of the time sleeping or looking out the window. We camped in tents or slept under the stars. We went to a place called Monkey Mia and wild dolphins swam right up to us. We saw tiger sharks and manta rays in Shark Bay. Millions and millions of flies were everywhere. Coral Bay was snorkeling with sea turtles and crazy big fish. Oh and a reef shark. It was really fun there. We partied with the crazy Germans and Austrian on the trip. Then we headed back south to a huge national park. The skeeters were pretty bad. But the kangaroos and gorges were worth it. We spent two days climbing in and out of gorges and swimming in fresh lakes and waterfalls. It was amazing. Then we headed back to Perth, stopping at a mining town on the way and having a nice relaxing camp and BBQ.

The stars were so clear and beautiful. Our guide was the coolest guy. The group was so fun and the trip was once in a lifetime. I’ll put together a slide show of the photos after I finish the assignment I am working on. And I’ll post a story about the trailer breaking too.

I didn’t want to leave the trip but it was nice to get back to my own bed and shower. It was also good to see all the Australian friends I have made. I am so behind on this blog now and the trip set me back in reading (although I am almost caught up) so I’m going to get back to reading and then seriously sit down and update this until I get caught up.

weekend recap

2006-04-11T02:31:00.000+08:00

so friday night was nice and quiet as no one was around. saturday was great, nice weather and i had the place to myself most of the day. i slept in and had a hamburger lunch party. it was good. that night katie and i went to the best party. the dj was great and the house was off the hook. very fun indeed. it was an early night as i had to get up around 7 the next day.

speaking of sunday, i spent the day at the park along swan river volunteering with kiwanis. i helped serve up the sausages and egg and bacon sandwhiches they were selling. it was fun and really awesome weather. we were at the telethon fundraiser for children's cancer research i believe. it was a toddler marathon. the little tots had a warm up session and then toddled around the park for their "marathon", it was pretty darn cute. it was fun watching all the families having picnics and the little kids dancing to the kids putting on a concert. the whole idea, kids raising money for kids, was well done. i quite enjoyed this little girl that keep dancing around in front of us.

today was a reading frenzy. i also cleaned my room and put away the laundry i did on saturday. zane yelled at me because i got loud after 5 cups of tea and finding new music i really liked. we watched this aussie gameshow that comes on after australian wheel of fortune. the gist is the contestant picks a case out of 24 and then tries to open ones with the least amount of money to get the best odds that the unopened cases hold lots of money, that way the bank offers them more money not to open their case which may only have 50 cents. anyway i think it is a silly game but bridget always watches it. so to make it more interesting i make them choose a case and play my "home version" so far i have ended up with more money then bridget each time, and i guessed that she had only 50 cents right once. today i won 75,000 and beat zane and bridget, although katie got the max, 200,000. it was great because bridget hated that some american won wheel of fortune and then i won the case game. so that was a good laugh.

tomorrow i hope to finish my film project, or at least get the web page layout finished. it isn't due for 3 weeks but i figure if i get it done before the northwest trip i won't have to bother with it when i get back. also i want to show it to him to make sure it meshes with his database. anyway i being a pretty good student this week.

oh i forgot! friday evening i went to stations of the cross, pretty different from st. francis' CYM version but not too bad. although i wish i had drank some water before i went as i had taken a nap and just woke up in time to run up to the church and felt sick thirsty throughout the whole thing. maybe that was a good thing.

hell of a week

2006-04-07T19:01:00.000+08:00

time is flying! i can't believe i am almost half way through already. it is so fun i don't want to leave. this week went by very fast. classes are getting really boring, but only to be expected. the americans here are very annoying. they are so rude and obnoxious. it really isn't hard to see why we get the reputation we have. they speak without knowing what they are talking about, they show up late to class, are disruptive, and basically show no respect. it is wierd because at pitt people honestly don't act like they do. granted we aren't angels but i haven't seen anyone stroll in 15 minutes late and proceed to eat a bowl of cereal while wearing sunglasses inside. oh well.

on the other hand in my politics class it is surprising some of the things the australians saw, especially in regards to the US. as i am the only american i hold my tongue but today it was rather hard. it could just be that this is the first international relations course for many of the people in my tutorial. i'll give them the benifit of the doubt. but honestly, his name is george w. bush.

the outback trip is in a week, getting excited for it. is has gotten chillier lately. you can tell the australians because they are the ones already in sweaters while we are still in shorts.

wine and an irishman

2006-04-02T19:46:00.000+08:00

so last night i was quite frustrated with my flatmates (mostly zane) because our flat has become insanely gross. i scrubbed the bathroom for a couple hours trying to get the floor not to be black. steph and mariko decided that i would be better served to sing ridiculous songs with them and wander the student village with a footie.

we wound up in jake's flat and watched the end of anger management. then to the courtyard where we met gareth, an irishman visiting WA. he had the best accent ever and tried to teach us gaelic. we sat outside under the stars drinking australian wine and swapping phrases and slang from south africa, ireland, america, australia and holland. it was quite the international event.

mariko broke out the tiny teddys which led to a very silly war in which we sort of ganged up on sam. the evening produced wonderful quotes and great photos. also i had much fun chatting with my brother the golden child yesterday. he was having a good deal of fun himself as to be expected with UF's win. Go Gators! I hear he called home and am sad I missed that call.

went to church tonight at the australian one off campus. it was mad different from all the churches back home. it is real confusing as they stand, sit, kneel differently. nice to experience new things though...

so now back to the philosophy paper and the crazy question of what is happiness. i wonder if i can cite last night's experiences as evidence? if that fails the prospect of steph making a roast for dinner is always there. hope everyone is doing well!

OC goes to Asia

2006-04-01T15:05:00.000+08:00

So we left Sunday afternoon and flew into Bangkok. The plane ride was amazing. It was 6 hours of great service, wonderful food (dinner was lamb), ice cream, all the free drinks (alcohol, soda, fruit juice, etc.) you could imagine, and Harry Potter. I enjoyed Thai International. Bangkok was a large airport but customs was just two guys chilling at a desk. They just waved to us as we walked out. We stayed at the Asia Airport Hotel, which had the worst smelling elevator I have ever been in (and that is saying a lot as I’ve ridden in Holland Hall’s).

The flight to Krabi was just as nice. When we got off the plane, I would have sworn we landed in paradise. It was beautiful. Tropical rainforest everywhere and no development in the way (Krabi town was less to look at). We hopped a taxi to the Emerald Garden Resort at Ao Nang Beach. Quite a nice place, it had great food, service, and two pools. We relaxed at the resort the first day and took a walk down into the town on the beach. There were tons of shops and crazy vendors everywhere. Guys would try to get you to hire a longboat or taxi and ladies were shouting at you about their great deals. It was unreal. We walked along the beach to these huts that were numbers and all gave massages. It was the same deal, Thai ladies trying to drag you into their huts. I got a massage with the other girls at #11. In the middle, it started thunder storming which was so cool.

The other days passed by with a similar routine. We would go on an excursion, go shopping and eating in town, and then hit the pool bar at night. One excursion was to an orchid garden then a hike in the national park up to a waterfall where we swam in this crystal clear lake. After that, we had lunch in the rainforest and went elephant trekking. It was really awesome. The next day was a boat tour to a few islands where we snorkeled and kayaked. After that, we took a day off to hang around Ao Nang. Then we went on a speedboat trip island hopping, snorkeling and visiting the beach where the movie The Beach was filmed. Overall, it was so much fun. Relaxing but at the same time I came back really tired.

The flight home was somewhat disappointing as the food was not so good and the movies not good either, but still a nice ride. I was glad to be back home (in Australia, which is now home go figure). The weather here was about 30 degrees cooler and the humidity was gone. Thailand was insanely hot and humid. Bangkok was about 103 when we left.

So now, I am in fabulous Perth settling back into reading and writing. I am also helping start up a Circle K club at another uni, Curtin. The kids there are really excited and I hope I can get them far enough along before I leave. It would be great to see another club in Australia. So that is what I have been doing recently. Over Easter, I’ll be traveling through the outback and up the coast of Western Australia, about half of this semester’s work is over, I have housing at Pitt for next semester, everything is smooth sailing. My face is almost back to normal and although I still have a runny nose, I really can’t complain.

Email me if you haven’t gotten the three videos I’ve made of this trip so far. Miss you folks!

Two Things

2006-04-01T14:14:00.000+08:00

First I will finally be getting around to updating about Thailand, I will be writing the post today and hopefully get it posted by tonight. It was a great trip but I have been mad busy sleeping and doing school work since. I am working on a philosophy paper this weekend. It finally rained here so I am not tempted to be outside in the hammock.

Second I stole this from Bryan Brown. I thought it was cool and even if you don't do it maybe you'll want to set one up for yourself.

http://kevan.org/johari?name=katieoc

So then I hope all is well with everyone and expect a large thailandish post soon!

st. paddy's in perth

2006-03-27T13:47:00.000+08:00

so st. paddy's. only one of my favorite holidays. i was uber excited about it and i don't think i've had more fun in perth. it was heaps fun in aussie speak.

we headed downtown to a little irish pub with a sweet irish band. the mood was perfect and the band was great. we drank guiness and jameson, danced to jigs and in general had a good time. a scotsman fell in love with amber (the other girl from PITT). he bought us all drinks and insisted on taking photos with his future wife. emily had brought along green dye and he thought it was hilarious to dye his friends' drinks green.

after laughing with this guy canada kelly had the desire to get chips so we went to ask the bouncer guys if there was a place to get chips anywhere. of course there wasn't but i ran into another scotsman waiting in line to get in. of course i told him to have fun getting trolleyed and astonishing he knew exactly what i was talking about which made my day. so we ventured back into the pub and proceded to start a crazy dancing chain with the scotsman, his australian mate and the rest of the bar. it was a good time. i have to say i like scottish people just as much as australians, which is heaps.

well then the group, mainly the maylasian sensation, decided to head to roise o'grady's. we jumped into a maxi taxi and headed across town to hear another great band and dance ourselves silly. after that i phoned home to get kentucky and say a very happy hello. we got back to uni, walked amber home with doug and ed and then proceeded to fall quite asleep. it was a great great st. paddy's day.

beating zane at his own game

2006-03-16T13:32:00.000+08:00

tip of the day: if you are ever feeling sad or your face hurts because you fell on some bricks put on barry white's can't get enough of your love and spin in circles. seriously so much fun.

so had two lectures today, a woman from dfat (department of foreign affairs and trade) came and spoke about australia's national interests. it was great. australian cinema was not so interesting today. there is this woman who asks the most ridiculous questions. i would like to hit her with a frying pan like they do in the cartoons so we can continue with class.

then i came home to find sam and zane playing a race car xbox game. well bridget and i tried and failed miserablely. the challenge was made by zane that he would buy anyone who could beat 1:50:00 a bottle of whatever vodka they wanted. well that is an enticing offer but it is more motivating just to beat zane. so bridget and i have been at it for about an hour now. she is getting really good. i spent most of the time laughing at her and making lunch. it was a good lunch. grilled ham and cheese sandwhich, strawberry lemonade, and oranges. i was going to have grapes too but i ate them all last night after dancing to barry white. shame.

my throat feels wonderful today and my voice is normalish. still coughing but those oranges should take care of that with the vitamin c junk inside.

i found my voice

2006-03-15T14:51:00.000+08:00

things are looking up as i have found my voice somewhat! at least i am not writing notes like i was yesterday. the x-rays say my face shall heal itself fine and i no mom i swear i didn't get into a fight with a boxing kangaroo.

so i made another video, this time of the home brew bottling of monday night. zane laughed at it. a more detailed version is in the works. also planning on going out and taking some photos around campus tomorrow for the lady.

we passed our flat inspection today wahoo! i hate the silliness of the cleaning rituals here. i mean we really should be responsible enough to look after ourselves. oh well. we got ourselves a massive tv that actually shows the right picture compared with the acient one that was left behind from last year. zane popped his xbox out there so now we are set for entertainment.

in my cinema tutorial today i think i did well by explaining to another student what film noir was. the one australian guy who i actually thought new a lot about film started telling her it was a french thing, which granted the term is and the idea came from the french but the movies are totally american and the french were describing the american films. anyhow gerry told me to continue to answer her question after i started to quiet myself thinking he would answer. so i think i am doing well for participation in that tutorial. i need to step it up a bit in the moral philosophy class but i just can't take the people in the tutorial. well not all of them but a few are just plain wierdish. i honestly can't follow their train of thought. at one point i think the one kid was saying that once you get a certain amount of money you'll be happy but above or below that is unhappiness. no idea what the kid was talking about. oh well.

so now i am going to try and finish up all my reading and writing before leaving for thailand on sunday. we are staying at the Emerald Garden Resort in Krabi if anyone is interested. Well then I should get back to reading and resting and eating ice cream. A hard day in school I tell you.

x-rays, no voice, home brew

2006-03-14T09:36:00.000+08:00

so this weekend i went to the chemist, she gave me something like t-3. I spent the weekend taking some, sleeping, taking some, sleeping. Monday I woke up, couldn't talk and with ear on fire. I went to the health place on campus which said they were too busy but they'd send me in the nurse.

Well the nurse looked at my face, i tried to tell her what happen but I could barely get a word out, she sent me right into the doctor. Well the doctor poked my face (i wanted to kill her) poked my ears (that hurt too) and looked at my throat. So I have a viral case of larangitis (spelled however) and my ears are fine (they don't feel fine). She then deduced that because of the bruising and the swelling even after a few days of anti-inflammatories that I've fractured my cheek bone.

So off I went to catch 2 busses and walk a bit to the x-ray place (I surely miss the old caddy) where they took multiple x-rays of my messed up face. I left campus at 1130 and got back at 350. I did get a mcdonald's milkshake while waiting for the bus. All this was complicated by the fact that I seriously had no voice.

Came home and popped some of those lovely pain killers and proceeded to lay on my bed until I realized I told Katie (the flat mate) I'd go shopping with her as she has a car. I went, bought ice cream, jello, and gingerale and some soup (i know i always say i hate it mom but it is the only thing i can swallow that isn't junk) and then came home to promptly pass out.

I woke up to get a drink of water and take another pill when I find Zane and his friends Sam and Ben bottling their home brew. I made a movie of the process and even helped a bit before collapsing back in bed. I woke up early today to degrease the oven (which I have yet to use) for the stupid flat inspections. Then I found out they are tomorrow. So I am going to get dressed and go back to the health center to see what the x-rays said I need to do.

I resolve to be better by Thailand.

Another week in Perth

2006-03-11T15:03:00.000+08:00

Well another week in Australia has passed. This week was heaps of fun.
As I can?t remember what I last posted about I?ll just start with my
tutorial for Australian cinema on Wednesday. It was awesome. Hot
because there is no air conditioning, but still awesome. I enjoy the
lecturer a lot. Oh! We watched the Oscars here and I am happy to see
that Brokeback Mountain didn?t pull a Titanic although I do think Heath
Ledger should have won. We watched Crash, amazing movie. Worth buying
I think. I went grocery shopping after talking to my older brother and
realizing he spends more then twice what I have been spending. I
splurged on corn on the cob and frozen hamburgers.

My diet has been based around corn flakes, peanut butter and jelly, and
spinach. I was going vegetarian there for a few weeks. As it is I
should head to the store to get more bread and milk today as nothing is
open tomorrow. I made egg salad sandwiches the other day, oh they were
fabulous. I had to Google how to boil and egg so it would be hard
boiled though. I think I?ll take a walk up to the store as soon as my
laundry is dry. I also need to pick up aspirin.

A couple nights ago I had an unfortunate trip over the bricks in the
walkway and landed smack on my face, the right side of my face. My
chin is pretty bruised as is my cheek. That wouldn?t be so bad if the
right side hadn?t swollen up to the point of looking like a chipmunk
cheek. I also seem to have lost my voice, which I find odd considering
it is summer here. Everyone has been getting sick though so I think it
is just catching up to me. It is good though because I don?t feel run
down. My face does hurt though.

I got another package from the lady with awesome Girl Scout cookies and
pride and prejudice. I made some grape kool-aid pooped the tagalongs
in the freezer and promptly watched the movie. It was good fun. I
have been practicing footie and have figured out how to bounce it back
to me. Zane also taught me how to kick it so it bounces in the
person?s face which is pretty fun. We went to the beach with Katie and
Sam the other day, it was so good. I tried and failed to climb the
bell but I did manage to stand on it until a wave knocked me off.

I went to Amber?s house last night. Her program really set them up
with an awesome place. I?ll have to walk over there more often. She
is a fun one that Amber. Next semester at Pitt, I shall have to hang
out with her. Doug came with me then we met everyone back at SV and
headed to Mike and Cam?s house where they were having a semi-formal
goon party, meaning they where wearing thrift store jackets and shorts
drinking goon from fancy glasses. Seeing as my face was swollen I
volunteered to walk the half asleep Ben (one of Zane?s friends) home
early and missed everyone jumping/being pushed into the pool. I have
to say I am glad I missed that as they still haven?t quite gotten the
water clear.

I think I will spend today reading outside in the little courtyard
place as the weather is fantastic. I want to get a hammock but I don?t
think the SV kids will be down with that. So sad. I want to get ahead
on reading and assignments as we are headed to Thailand in a week. I
can?t wait. I am also excited to spend St. Paddy?s at this great Irish
pub in Perth. Should be a blast.

Sunday and Footie

2006-03-06T15:03:00.000+08:00

So Katie my flatmate took me to see an AFL (Australian Football League) game on Sunday with her family. (Her family is her parents and 3 younger brothers) Let me just say it was awesome. No seriously AFL is my new favorite sport. We watched the Fremantle Dockers beat Collingwood. Of course we cheered for Freo. It was great. At one point there was a fight on one end of the oval while the game continued on the other end. Oh and I have decided I am marrying a footie player.

Although I didn't understand the penalties really, I do get the overall gist of the game and the scoring. We've been playing at the student village. It is great fun. Katie's mom got her a footie so we can play whenever now instead of waiting for Justin.

After the game they took me out to eat in Northbridge (the restraunty/clubish part of Perth). Man o man was it great food. Totally great. Her family is awesome and overall it was a smashing day.

So of course we had to break the footie in when we got back. I banged on Justin's window as usual and he helped us pump it up to the right pressure. He then sat on the stairs and watched my pathetic attempts to hand ball, kick, and bounce it. He has such an evil laugh. After being quite amused he humored me by showing me how to bounce it and I think I am getting the hang of it. As it was almost 11 Katie and I couldn't get anyone to have a kick with us so we ran across student village handballing it to eachother as I declared every so often that I had scored a touchdown. (Of course there is no such thing as touchdown in AFL and I do think I heard Justin laughing at me as we passed his flat.)

Well, I have been pretty bad about updating this so I will try and recap the latest happenings quickly.

Saturday I went to novice frisbee day and learned how to stack. I think I am getting better at throwing to. It was mad hot though and I felt like I was going to start boiling on the field. We went to Cam and Mike's house afterward and sat in the air conditioning and then ate sausages. The frisbee folks are hell nice. After, Kelly and I checked out the SV (Student Village) Sport's Day where we scored free food. After some cooling off we ventured back out to play volleyball and ended up kicking the footie around with, gasp!, more Australians then North Americans! Tom, Katie, Sabina, and Justin played a mutated version of 500 with Kelly and I. Basically we just pushed eachother around in the sand. Good fun though. Followed by poker and kool-aid. Then Kelly, Ed (who fractured his ribs fencing so couldn't play with us earlier) watched Fight Club.

Friday was a party at Cam and Mike's to which Ed brought along his crazy friends who are always entertaining. Thursday night was a white theme at the guild tavern on campus. It was mad fun. Everyone looked pretty nice in white. I went with the americans of course but ended up losing them after 5 or so minutes. Spent most of the night dancing with Anna, Katie, and Justin. I tried to get Ben to dance with us again but he wouldn't budge. Apparently the last thursday was the first time he had ever danced. (We got him on stage!) At one point we were dancing with Zane to Queen. It was so fun. I also made a new friend in Lou.

I've given up pasta for lent and taken to collecting the pop tabs around student village. So far I am thinking pasta was a horrible idea as it is cheap, easy and insanely good tasting and I've only got one pop tab. Oh well it is the thought that counts right?

I can't figure out how to get my photos online but I did make a slideshow out of them and put it to music. Email me if you'd like it. No plans for today, it is Labor Day here. Maybe I'll head to the beach and read before frisbee tonight.

Toliet Paper Monster

2006-02-28T17:20:00.000+08:00

Apparently our flat has a toliet paper eating monster. I have put out
6 rolls of paper and Tari 3 to the girls bathroom and Zane put 4 into
the boys, and Zane is the only boy.

WHERE IS THE PAPER GOING?

Happy Mardi Gras

2006-02-28T11:46:00.000+08:00

apparently mardi gras is a western hemisphere thing. these aussie have
no clue what I am talking about. however, the other americans and
myself are going to show them. emily is buying beads and i am getting
junk food. we are going to do this fat tuesday up right.

yesterday was much fun, i think i am going to stick with this frisbee
deal and i hope we all keep playing volleyball. it is quite hot out
today. i have no food left so i am going to have a heck of a lot to
carry back. should be fun tonight though.

hope you all have a loverly mardi gras and such. i am off to church
and shopping and to do my weekly chore (rubbish bins) as it is
walkthroughs tonight!

Loving Perth

2006-02-27T16:36:00.000+08:00

I have decided my new favorite sport is AFL, Australian Rules Football,
aka Footie. It is mad fun and fast paced. Totally better then
gridiron. I am even going to buy an AFL ball I think. On Sunday I am
going with my roommate and her family to see the Freemantle Dockers
play at the Perth Oval. Very excited.

So this weekend/past week has been crazy fun. Classes are awesome. It
is so strange having so little school but I am going to enjoy it. I am
also going to try and sit in on interesting lectures, planning on
sitting in on one about insurgency in asian nations. Should be great.

I love the buses here. Very clean and prompt. I need to buy a
multipass soon though. Took a huge long bus-train-bus trip to
Scarbrough Beach. Not worth the 2something hour trip but still fun. I
got crushed by huge waves and then watched the wind and kite surfers.
It was fun. That was Saturday, Sunday Kelly from Canada and I went
into Fremantle and had an awesome lunch at this little cafe. I had a
chicken sandwhich with carrots, tomato, and cucumbers on a crusty fresh
roll, and REAL LEMONADE! which is saying alot as most lemonade here is
sprite with a lemonade sticker. It was very good and I plan on going
back. We sat under a huge tree and watched everyone walking past. At
one point the little boy next to us asked if his mother's boyfriend
"ever going to marry mommy?" It was a fun day in Freo. I also scored
a million green beans for 3AUD. I am going to make dinner for everyone
tomorrow.

Tonight is the flat pizza and movie party. It is BYO plate. I love
it. We are watching Hitch. Should be good as my courtyard is full of
awesome people. Such as Ed from Perth but with this crazy english
accent, Russian/Aussie Anna, Canada Kelly, the Seattle trio, Tom from
south WA and Norway Andre.

I have outwalked my flip flops and the right one now has a hole in it.
I'll have to venture over to K-Mart and try to find some new ones.
They call them thongs here. I am picking up most of the lingo but I
can't seem to make the transition from shopping cart to trolley. I
always mess that one up. Oh well.

So I bought a camera today and I'll be taking photos of everything as
soon as it charges. I am pretty exctied about the purchase. I talked
to the manager of the store and ended up getting a sweet discount which
enabled me to buy a larger memory card. So hopefully I'll have tons of
photos uploaded soon.

Don't forget to email me your addresses so I can send you a postcard!

i can't wait to start class

2006-02-22T20:32:00.000+08:00

so tomorrow is the first day of class for my last spring semester at college. i am quite excited. it has been a long winter break and i am more then ready to be back in lectures. i have australian foreign policy at 830 and then australian cinema at 930. it should be a fun day.

it is also the student night at the on campus tavern. should be a fun night with pool and a band. yesterday was student night at the tavern across the way. a group of about 20 of us headed over. the place was a bit shady but still was a great time.

since it was already paid for i joined the guild gym. a super nice pt made a program for me and then this trainer john went through it with me. it was quite fun and i am looking forward to doing it again tomorrow.

monday night i went to a kiwanis meeting and met the australian governor. it was great. they are uber excited to start circle k in western australia. they invited me to a golf weekend which sounds very fun.

my roommate and i went shopping today so now i have actual food, not just peanut butter and jelly. i think i'll make a sandwhich when i get back. i also made cds for sabina and her joy over panic at the disco made me smile.

i gave the little rope braclets i wear to tom and jake last night and now my wrist feels quite empty. I would ask the lady to send me more but i have no idea which box they managed to get into. i think i'll try ordering them online.

my email has been a little on the fritz lately so sorry if i haven't responded. i worked it out and shall be replying shortly. i'll also try and post some photos soon. still trying to figure the video thing out.

cricket, aussie rules, and wine

2006-02-19T18:16:00.000+08:00

So Australia is known for its wines. We decided to take a wine tour
yesterday. It was amazing. I didn't like wine much when it started
but now I appreciate it. The tour was beautiful. Our driver Justin
was so fun, we rocked out on the bus with some girls from Sydney and a
Canadian. We ate brilliant cheese and chocolate. Lunch was a barbie
on the Swan River. Then we went to a pub in downtown Perth and had a
pint. It was a fabulous day.

Today was another hot sunny day in paradise. Goofed around all
afternoon then played some sand volleyball. It was tons of fun. We
played for a couple hours. I actually managed to hit it well a few
times.

So Friday night I learned cricket some before we went out to Freemantle
and tonight Justin is going to show me Aussie Rules football. I am
loving the Australian culture. Absolutely loving it. I have to make
them biscuits and gravy for breakfast though as they are quite confused
like Benjamin and Barry.

I think I lucked out with awesome flat mates. They are all so fun.
Totally enjoying life right now. Tonight is the welcome barbaque.
Should be fun, my money is on them cooking sausage.

I love the emails from everyone keeping me updates on east coast
happenings. Miss you kids much.

Cheers mates!

video of oz

2006-02-17T13:35:00.000+08:00

So I recorded a little video of the room to see if this works, here is hoping!

it's zane

2006-02-15T15:44:00.000+08:00

that is his name. he is nice. so is his friend roland who i have taken to
calling reginald. he showed me how to work the stove. it is crazy as is
almost everything here. it rained today which was amazing because it is maybe
20 degrees cooler. wonderful.

the kids living in the "compton" section of student village have purchased a
blow up baby pool. no joke. they have the best courtyard around. i am
wondering what the security/ra kids will say about it. they are rather strict
here. we were told to quiet down 3 times last night and honestly we weren't
loud. apparently they came and had a sit down talk with one of my roommates.
no idea what that was about, they were quieter then us.

the broiler here is the griller. toasties are toasted bread with cheese. the
toliet flush counterclockwise but they are really different. there is no
handle, just two buttons. it is rather odd.

so i am taking 3 courses here and that is the max allowed. once classes start
next week i'll sign up for recitations for these lectures but this is currently
my scheduale

MONDAY - WEDNESDAY = NOTHING

Thursday 8:30-9:30 Australian Foreign Policy
9:30-12:30 Australian Cinema
Friday 9:30-10:30 Moral and Political Philosophy

Sounds good to me. Well then I think I am going to grab myself and apple then.

Oh, ps the buses here have some get up and go power.

Fwd: i forgot my roommate's name

2006-02-15T08:38:00.000+08:00

I forgot the kid that lives in number 4's name. i know it starts with a z. oh
well. so another day another dollar spent, rather three to be exact. two for
the washer, fifty cents for the internet, and another fifty for an attempt at a
phone call. i seem to have a defective phone card.

the phone booth is mighty warm but to call out of my room requires buying a 10
phone card and it costs 50cents to make every call. i am considering buying a
mobile phone. i think it will end up costing $100 to have and use a mobile
phone which only makes 10 phone cards and that isn't including the phone cards
that i would have to buy to pay for the minutes.

it would seem i am decided then. on to another topic, australians like to
drink. i think this is really an understatement. we looked at kelly's (an
australearner) flat mate jake's photos, all very trolleyed (drunk). today i
came back from the orientation session to find z's (my flat mate whose name i
forgot) friend chilling with a gingerale and a bottle of some sort of alcohol
beverage. i think at one point of our conversation he said "i just want to
drink." case in point, while walking back from the coolest little sports bar
last night cameron's (australearner) flat mate tom asks me to show him where he
lives because he doesn't remember when he is drunk. this folks is a monday
night. and student night is tuesday.

i have figured out the library ver sucessfully and i am pretty sure i can get
around campus easily now. i have one bus down and the train seems pretty easy
too. tonight is free dinner! which is fabulous because it means more beer
money. they are fond of sausages here which i am really not wanting. cross
your fingers for fruit! they have amazing apples here.

right i have to go get my laundry off the line, which for me is a novelty and
then off to dinner. hope you all are enjoying the snow. and ps i was kidding
about the beer money lady.

----- End forwarded message -----

settled in sort of

2006-02-13T13:25:00.000+08:00

so today is monday and o-day. it was quite like freshman festival at pitt except
way more commercial. they had a red bull tent and a bud table. our welcome packs
were basically an ad for domino's. it is really hot out. i need a hat. i still
have a ridiculous shopping list to attend to but i am going to wait until it is
cooler, probably wake up mad early and shop tomorrow. sort of disappointed with
the lack of student organizations but whatever. tomorrow is scheduling and an
international student welcome dinner. should be good.

my roommate, i think his name is zane (not at all sure) is the only one i've
really seen. he came here with his five best mates from highschool. he reminds
me too much of jj. they all seem nice. bridget is my other flat mate. she was
here last year.

the australearn group has jokingly dubbed this place the concentration camp.
they are quite strict. we have room inspections, chores, fines, and they walk
around telling you to go inside at 10. it is also turning out to be more
expensive then i imagined. you have to pay for everything, internet,
activities, the bus, the gym (which is $190). oh well.

yesterday we took the train to cottesloe beach. it was awesome. very sweet
beach. clear cool water and white sand. not a bad time. i managed to sunburn my
ankles and neck. last night we though of heading out only to find the place we
wanted to get pizza at closed at 8. everything tends to close pretty early
here.

the boys have taken to this place called chicken treat, calling it super
chicken. the aussies say it is really bad fast food. they still want to try it.
and there is this kind of creepy kid from cambridge who has been here years and
who jackie (an australearn girl) was warned about before she got here
(interestingly enough these two guys from malaysia were also warned about him).
he is here doing his phd on how to be truely happy. he is the butt of many
jokes.

i think i'll go check out the laundry. i hope they have change machines though
because change here is like gold. seriously it is. they have gold 1 and 2
dollar coins you have to use for everything.

And so it begins...

2006-02-12T11:23:00.000+08:00

So Saturday night I finished packing, tried to transfer my music and did every
last minute thing to get ready for this huge trip I had months to plan for. It
all worked out well as I only managed to forget sunscreen. I thought I
overpacked but now that I am here it would be awesome to have more clothes.
But anyway here is a recap of the trip.

Sunday was long, really long. American Airlines wasn't too bad of a flight, no
food or drinks but the seat next to mine was empty and I saw the Colorado River
out the window. The layover at the LA airport was insanely boring. I watched
some movies, ate some overpriced Burger King, chatted with people headed to
Texas and then watched an Australian family fight. I sat next to another
Australearn kid going to Murdoch on the Quantas flight.

Quantas is a very very nice airline. They give you tons of food and free
drinks. Also the seats aren't too bad and the staff is nice. I finally
watched 40 Year Old Virgin and saw a James Blunt interview. Other then that I
slept a lot and read some. The flight went was faster then I expected. Jet
lag is a killer though.

So then we went to Cairns in Queensland. It was the best vacation ever. We
stayed at a really hip backpacker's hostel. The city was fun, the people were
great, and the food not so bad. While there we went to a zoo where I held a
koala and walked around with kangaroos. From there we headed to an aboriginal
culture park where I threw a boomarang, a spear, and played the didgeridoo
(which I can't remember how to spell). They has awesome fish there. Very
tasty.

Then came the day of the Great Barrier Reef. It was ridiculously beautiful.
Snorkling was so fun, fish were everywhere, the corals were beyond cool. It
was a very fun day and I managed to stay almost not sunburned.

The last plane ride was the worst. Although the clouds over WA are stunning and
the landscape awesome the trip sucked. Virgin Blue is a crap airline, no food,
no drinks, and uncomforatable seats. Although the staff is really
entertaining. It still didn't make the trip good though.

We arrived crazy late, got in a bus and signed some papers then escorted to our
rooms in the dark. My room is huge, my desk huge, the bathroom is bare but
nice. The kitchen is pretty nice as well. So far I haven't seen any of the 5
other flat mates I should have. I hope they show up soon as it is errie to
have the entire place to myself. All the Seattle kids are across the way and
I've been mostly hanging out with the other kids from Australearn.

We went to Freemantle yesterday and I got in the Indian Ocean. It was awesome.
Dinner was a prawn salad that I'd have again and again. They restraunt, Sail
Anchor, made its own beer, I tried a BrewBerry. Not bad at all. We had a hard
time figuring Freemantle out but ended up in a coffee shop laughing and
complaining. It was overall a great day.

I have some groceries but I need to work on the shopping thing more. I also am
thinking about getting a fan because it is mad hot. We meet a kid from
Cambridge who has been here 3 years. He seems to know a hell of a lot about
the area. I think we are headed to the beach now. Orientation starts
tomorrow.

Life Is Still Sweet

2005-11-21T01:37:00.000+08:00

Life Is Still Sweet

well there is this post there:
The Song List.... and I am now going to steal this idea and make the songs my own.
1) A favorite political track: Rockin the Suburbs ~ Ben Folds or James K. Polk ~ They Might Be Giants

2) A track that will sound just as good 20 years from now as it does today: Good ~ Better then Ezra or Dream a Little Dream of Me ~ Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald or Somewhere Over the Rainbow ~ Judy Garland or The Dragonheart Theme

3) The song you’d use to tell someone you love them: All For You ~ Sister Hazel or Dreams ~ The Cranberries or The Cigarette Song ~ The All American Rejects

4) A song that has made you sit down and analyze it’s lyrics: Say It Ain't So ~ Weezer

5) A song that you like, that a two year old would like as well: Come Go With Me ~ ? or Just Around the Riverbend ~ Pocahontas

6) A song that gives you an energy boost: Under My Thumb ~ Rolling Stones The Only Difference Between ~ Panic At The Disco

7) A good song to get it on to: Return to Innocence ~ Enigma or Sexual Healing ~ Marvin Gaye

8) A song that you liked when you were 14-16, and still like now: Peaches ~ Presidents of The United States or All I Want ~ Toad the Wet Sprocket

9) A song that would be in the soundtrack of the movie about your life: Movies ~ Alien Ant Farm or Crimson and Clover ~ Tommy James and The Shondells

10) A peppy song that would start the opening credits of the movie about your life: Build Me Up Buttercup ~ The Foundations or All Mixed Up ~ 311

11) A good song from a genre of music that no one would guess that you liked: Lioness ~ Song Ohia or Ricordo Ancor (Pelagia's Song) ~ Stephen Warbeck and Russel Watson

12) A song that you think should have been playing when you were born: Girl From Mars ~ Ash or Kate ~ Ben Folds Five

13) A favorite hip hop collaboration: Still DRE ~ Dr. Dre f. Snopp Dogg

14) Best song to listen to while altered: Free Bird ~ Lynyrd Skynyrd

15) Your smooth song, for relaxing: I've Got You Under My Skin ~ Frank Sinatra or Blackbird ~ The Beatles

16) A song you would send to someone you hate or are mad at: Seventy Times 7 ~ Brand New or Cute without the "E" (Cut from the Team) ~ Taking Back Sunday or Surprise Surprise ~ The Starting Line

17) A song that reminds you of a past break-up: Why Can't I Breathe ~ Liz Phair

18) All time favorite hip hop track: Gone till November ~ Wyclef or Everything is Everything ~ Lauryn Hill

19) A song that should be played at your funeral: For Me This is Heaven ~ Jimmy Eat World or The Patriot ~ John Williams or The Piano Theme ~ James Horner

20) Your favorite song at this moment in time: A Walk Through Hell ~ Say Anything or Red Right Ankle ~ The Decemberists

21) A song that makes you want to throw a party: Golddigga ~ Kanye West f. Jamie Foxx

22) Favorite track from a Califonia band: What I Got ~ Sublime or Wouldn't It Be Nice ~ The Beach Boys

23) Favorite song to listen to at the beach: Island in the Sun ~ Weezer or Heatwave ~ I forget

24) A good song to listen to while driving fast: Machinehead ~ Bush or Born to Be Wild ~ Steppenwolf

25) Song of the year (2005): B.Y.O.B ~ System of a Down or Mercy Me ~ Alkaline Trio

okay I am finished for now. that was hard and i am sure i am going to want to change it soon.

Ah Yes, Medical School: NSWTHAIGTDWML-O-Meter

2005-11-18T04:26:00.000+08:00

Ah Yes, Medical School: NSWTHAIGTDWML-O-Meter

so this is an awesome blog.

i'll swim backwards

2005-11-01T02:24:00.000+08:00

i should probably be working on my contemporary film paper. instead i am listening to itunes and wishing i had the elizabethtown soundtrack. it wouldn't be adverse to have the dvd either. definitely a purchase i will be making.

last night i got a smoothie with rachel and then proceeded to spit it all over my freshly cleaned pants. it was all rachel's fault. i am enjoying our conversations. it is much fun. even though we talk about nothing. marc is going to end up hating me though. seriously about four times now he has called and rachel tells him she is talking to me. and of course the whole boys thing will surely make him hate me. oh well what can you do?

i tried to draw a pumpkin this morning after steph sent me a link. i failed. i think i also lost the composition contest from last year. very upsetting. fifty dollars would be quite handy right now.

i am tutoring today. i tutored before but it was usually peers and informal. this seems more offical and there is more pressure. i want to do well and i can't afford to screw up. sure it is only math but these kids need to do well. i have it in my head that this is a trial run for teach for america. and for some reason i feel like if i fail here i fail in general. that is completely stupid considering the situation. no matter, i have figured out that while i am quite logical and i sometimes ignore my own sense of reason.

do you ever feel like you are walking a straight path that seems to be a line but is really the circumference of a huge loop?