Sunday, July 5, 2009
3:29AM - Bleargh.It's 3:30am and I am on a ludicrously expensive internet kiosk on board the Spirit of Tasmania because I cannot sleep and it's driving me insane. My legs keep tensing up to try and counteract the roll of the ship (which is considerably, it's really rough tonight) and nothing I can do will make them relax, so over the past three hours they've become unbearable sore. I got tired of tossing and turning (I've had about half an hour of sleep so far) and felt guilty about disturbing my cabin-mates so I've come downstairs but I'm so tired. Ugh.
Also, I seem to get motion sick from rolling, rollicking boat rides of this type. Ugh. Not enough to throw up, but enough to feel decidedly uncomfortable.
Boat trip not nearly as fun as I was expecting it to be :-/ Oh well. Tomorrow will be better. It's got to be better than the day I had yesterday. Perhaps will write more about that another time.
sick
Friday, July 3, 2009
10:10AM - I'm still alive, honest!I tweeted about this after it happened, but I haven't had time to post about it here. I took the Evil Hazard Perception Test again on Wednesday and I passed, yay! Apparently the trick is to be cautious but not too cautious, so the old trick of not clicking/tapping at all when you're asked to overtake or turn doesn't work (unless there really is no safe time to do so) and the count-to-three-then-click/tap trick for when to slow down doesn't work either. You have to concentrate the whole time but not assume there's a hazard you just haven't seen, which I suppose is the best way to do it, but it would be easier if the instructions were clear on that fact (ie: if you are too cautious and slow down when you don't need to or fail to turn/overtake when you have a safe window of opportunity, you'll fail the question). Ah well. I have passed, and now I can offer useful advice to anyone else who may be in the position I was in (for a year or two, at least).
Also, tomorrow I'm hopping on the Spirit of Tasmania and going to Hobart for two weeks to participate in the 60th Intervarsity Choral Festival. I'm taking my laptop with me, but I don't know if I'll have internet access at all while I'm there, so expect me to be fairly quiet until the 19th. Currently I am packing, packing, packing...
*checks email* Hmm. Apparently I need to have an outfit appropriate to a "lounge suit/day dress" dress code for an event at IV. As I was sort of expecting a black tie/cocktail affair instead (I don't know why, probably because I have clothes for that!), this could be...interesting. Is a (short-ish, sleeveless) black dress with red fringe appropriate for that sort of thing? It will have to be, as I don't own anything else remotely suitable and have no time or money to shop before we leave. Note to future IV committees: please let us know dress codes well in advance so we can buy or borrow if necessary!!
Apparently the email was sent days ago, and I am slack/busy and don't check my email every day. Probably my own fault I'm underprepared, then. Sigh.
busy
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
8:35PM - Ah, Life.+ Exams are over!
- I've definitely failed one subject. I was late for the exam and missed it. Ugh.
+ Lots of fun new books to read. The third Gallagher Girls book "Don't Judge a Girl By Her Cover" (Ally Carter), the new Stephanie Plum "Finger Lickin' Fifteen" (Janet Evanovich) and "Mothstorm", the newest Larklight novel (Phillip Reeve and David Wyatt). Woohoo, books!
- Couldn't afford "Spook's Apprentice" (Joe Delaney) or the awesome looking "A Spy in the House" (Y.S. Lee) - teen girl spy story meets YA Victoriana craze, wheeee! But I'm still pretty excited about them anyway.
+ "The Demon's Lexicon" (Sarah Rees Brennan) gets released in Australia in a week! Whee! I can get it in time to take to IV :D I'm supposed to be driving as much as possible while we're there, but maybe I'd rather read...
+++ OMFG, how awesome are books, you guys???
+ The most adorable picture book I've ever seen, just $4.15! It's called "Rex: The Adventures of Our Class Pet", it's by Ursula Dubosarsky with charming illustrations by David Mackintosh, and it's about the half-imagined adventures of a chameleon called Rex who may secretly be a giant dinosaur if you ask his :D For those who don't know, my car's name is Rex, so it's extra awesome. I think I need a chameleon mascot for my car, now.
- I have no money (like, at all) until Friday. Oops.
? I'm taking the Hazard Perception Test tomorrow in preparation for taking my Ps test...some time...soonish. Eeek. Should be a doddle, but it's one step closer to the drive test which is terrifying even though I know I'm a decent driver.
? LOTS of work to do over the next ten days to prepare for IV. Lots of sewing to do, particularly, and a bit of shopping too. *flail* Productive purposeful stuff = good for mental health, excessively stressful business = bad for mental health. Hmmm. Anyone know where in Melbourne I can get knee high socks that are stretchy enough to cover generous calves and not cut off the circulation?
cheerful
Saturday, June 20, 2009
10:04PMWhat the FUCK Bacardi??
Misogyny and fat phobia all rolled into one, how delicious. When I first saw the initial image I was confused because I assumed it was aimed at men, and I wasn't quite sure how having an "ugly" girlfriend would win a man social acclaim. Then I realised it's actually aimed at women, and that almost makes it worse. Let's get women on side by getting them to point and laugh at other women! Compete, compete!
I also don't think any of these women are ugly, they're just fat. And when you read the vicious, bitter text that goes with the images, you see that the major reason these women are held to be "ugly" seems to be their size.
Also, apparently having sex without a condom is like letting someone shoot you in the vagina. Warning, the images at that link are not really safe for work and one in particular might be triggering for people who've experienced sexual assault. I felt sick looking at it.
I don't even know where to begin with that one, there are so many things wrong with this ad campaign. Penises are dangerous weapons! Male sexuality is violent and brutal! The only people who can pass STIs to their partners are men! Women are the only ones who are responsible for protecting themselves when they have sex! Yet another headless, skinny, anonymous woman presented as both figure of allure and target of violence.
Note: If you're arachnophobic (like me, augh!), don't click the link in the post that leads to "a previous post" with a connected theme. Just...don't. *shudder*
The blog is very interesting, though!
annoyed
11:34AM - Fandom Superlatives are BACK!
SUMMER 2009 EDITION: GO VOTE
The American Idol fans are taking over, you guys! Go vote for some GQMFs or nominate some awesome women characters!
*waves pom poms* Current mood:
awake
Monday, June 15, 2009
12:27PM - MememememeIt's that babble-about-your-icons meme! I love talking about my icons, they're like tiny pieces of art or tiny fragments on my multi-faceted LJ identity. It's awesome.
1. Reply to this post (putting up your hand), and I will pick six of your icons.
2. Make a post (including the meme info) and talk about the icons I chose.
3. Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.
4. This will create a never-ending cycle of icon glee.
The icons ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
watersusurrus asked me to explain are ( under the cut )
amused
Sunday, June 14, 2009
11:03AM - Murder and MayhemYesterday I made a dress and went to a murder mystery party, which was full of people I don't know very well who all knew each other really well and had lots of in-jokes I didn't understand, but I had an awesome time anyway. Go me! And my dress looked fabulous, which was nice, because it's been ages since I made a last minute costume for something and it didn't a) go horribly wrong or b) look deeply unflattering and make me feel awkward and ugly all night.
The murder mystery game (one of those How To Host A Murder things) was...confusing and convoluted, and I think we were all a bit too drunk by the end to know what was going on. For future reference, setting a murder mystery party game, for which people need to be at least a little bit on-the-ball, at a 1920s speakeasy is probably not the best idea. We were all sloshed by the end of round one, and the game (which is meant to take four hours with food and stuff in between rounds) did not finish until 1:00am, a full six hours after we started. And someone missed the big reveal because she fell asleep.
I had actually played this game before as a different character but I didn't remember a bit of it. I think I was drunk last time I played too.
Good fun was had by all, though, even if I couldn't get a taxi home and had to wake up poor splatchtrock to come get me. Sorry dear. <3
PS: I wasn't the murderer! Go me!
cheerful
Thursday, June 11, 2009
9:54AM - !!!...
The likelihood of finding anyone to come see Britney's first ever Australian tour with me is pretty slim, right?
Yeah, thought so. Can't really afford it anyway!
I decided to try a new thing to wake me up because my sleeping patterns suck at the moment, so I downloaded Alarm Clock for Mac. You can set a song from your iTunes playlist to wake you up, and you can also set it so that it starts quietly and gradually gets louder for a gradual awakening. I combined "How Does She Know" from Enchanted with a veeeery pretty Chris Pine desktop wallpaper for a very gentle, pleasant wake-up call indeed :) Works much better than a nasty loud alarm when you actually want to listen to the song (and look at the pictures!).
The only problem is that I have to leave my laptop open all night, and while I can turn the screen light off I can't stop the cat from walking or sitting on it (no, there isn't enough room in my bedroom to put it anywhere other than on the bed). I'm sure I'll develop some system, though. If it gets me to wake up before midday, it's worth it.
I slept really badly last night though. Kept having weird dreams that woke me up. Perhaps it serves me right for watching Star Trek in bed (seriously hilarious "This Side of Paradise" episode totally worth it, though!)
accomplished
Monday, June 1, 2009
2:52PMLast night I went to see Wicked with pink_soprano. I hadn't been insanely eager to see it, but I liked the two songs I had heard and I haven't been to a show in ages, and since everyone was talking about how awesome it was I thought why not? And just...wow. It was amazing, clever and heartbreaking and exciting and funny and everything I love about musicals and I loved it. We had the understudy playing Elphaba and she was just AMAZING. What an incredible voice!
I cried. Several times. I kind of always do that with live music, but there were some seriously emotional moments. I also knew almost nothing about the plot and had no idea how it was going to end, so that was extra exciting. I don't think I've ever been to a show where I didn't already know the story.
Anyway, it was great, and if you've been thinking about seeing it but haven't yet, I urge you to do so.
cold
Saturday, May 30, 2009
2:29PMWilliam Shatner + Chris Pine = Jensen Ackles???
Brought to you by evancalous (on ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small}
ontd_startrek, obv.) here!
amused
2:02PM - Again, ignore this if you're not a melbournian ontd_startrek member
EDIT: Okay you guys, it looks like the day everyone is free is Saturday 6 June and the best time is 6:50pm. So let's meet at the ticket booth for the cinemas (which is three levels up from the train station, IIRC?) at, say, 6:30 to get tickets and then let the festivities begin! And we can go to the pub or something afterwards to debrief if people are into that :Dpink_soprano and I are pretty hard to miss - her hair is purple, and mine's blonde and pink - so come find us and introduce yourselves! If you could officially RSVP here so we know who to expect, that'd be awesome too.
( poll for ontd_startrek meetup )
Friday, May 29, 2009
9:40PM - ontd_startrek meetup planning post( If you are not on ontd_startrek and/or not in Melbourne, ignore this post. )
Current mood: bouncy 1:40PM - The Phone Saga Continues and Mawaridi Completely Loses Her ShitAs I mentioned, two weeks ago I left my mobile phone on a bus and it never turned up again. Immediately after losing the phone I called Telstra, my service provider, and asked them to put a suspension on my account so that if anyone found my phone they couldn't use it to make calls for which I would have to pay. I also got calls diverted to my mother's phone number, so that people would still be able to get in touch with me if necessary.
I have since got my hands on a replacement phone (an old one of my dad's) and got myself a new sim card on my old account, so I can keep my old number. Of course, in order to use the replacement phone with my new sim and my old number, I need to get the suspension taken off my account with Telstra so I can actually make calls. Also, the call forwarding apparently can't be removed until my account is unsuspended, so I can't receive calls to my new phone until that happens either.
This is where the trouble begins.
I have called Telstra's various service lines SEVEN TIMES on THREE DIFFERENT DAYS. I've tried every phone number I can find, support, accounts, billing, complaints. I have been into a Telstra store to speak to someone face-to-face, with no result. I have been passed around countless offices, referred to numerous other departments, and told on three occasions that everything was fixed, when it WASN'T. None of the help desk people have had any idea of how to fix my problem, and most of them in fact seemed incapable of comprehending what my problem WAS. Account is suspended. I want to it to be not suspended. IT IS NOT THAT COMPLEX.
I try not to be angry, shouty or terse with call centre employees because I know they're not personally responsible for the flaws of the company they work for, english is often not their first language and most of them get very poor training. But honestly, I am at the end of my tether. This is seriously ridiculous. How can it possibly be so difficult to reactivate a suspended account, let alone understand that this is what I'm asking for? Surely if individual call centre workers can't remove the suspension, they should have a supervisor who is capable of such things. I have been polite and tried to remain calm but I am now at the point when I want to scream and throw things and possibly throttle the IDIOT on the other end of the phone line because DAMN IT, "PLEASE REMOVE MY SUSPENSION" SHOULDN'T BE HARD TO UNDERSTAND.
AAAAAUUUUGH!
Oh, and? I am on a capped $50 plan, which means I pay $50 per month for my account with Telstra regardless of how many calls I make (up to $100). If I am required to pay the full $50 for May despite the fact that my account has been unusable for two weeks, I am going to be very. Fucking. Angry.
Well, even more fucking angry, I should say. I'm already pretty enraged. I do not. Have the energy. For this shit.
enraged
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
11:44PM - *facepalm*A combination of seeing Star Trek five times and having my flist feed eaten alive by ontd_startrek may have brought out my inner squealing fangirl and caused me to regress to the age of thirteen, but at least I'm not reading RPS.
...
Aw, crap.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
1:46PM - SURPRISE YOU GUYS.
Before.
( Annnd... )
There will be better photos (including progress shots) up on my design blog once I've sorted through the photos and taken some new ones, but I couldn't wait to share :D
Miss Kat and Kelsie of Wildilocks are freakin' awesome you guys. Current mood:
ecstatic
Thursday, May 21, 2009
1:14PM - Because Eyebrows are Awesome!Hey, just in case there are any other hopelessly dorky Zachary Quinto fangirls reading this who aren't on ontd_startrek, I just did something ridiculous :D Ridiculous BUT AWESOME.
And a total stranger on the internet said I had nice eyebrows, which was strangely cheering. I declare today EYEBROW DAY.
Who else has awesome eyebrows?
silly
10:06AM - Ugh.
God, people, I cannot tell you how much I want to go to this. I need some billionaire benefactor to come and drop several thousand dollars on my doorstep. Oh, please?
Also: I have a horrendous cold. My neck aches, my glands are huge and sore and my uncomfortably blocked nose is running like a tap. I wouldn't worry about it - colds are unpleasant, but what can you do? - except I am singing in two different concerts this weekend, and in one of them I am part of a small group where I represent half the alto section at some points in the concert, so I am a bit worried about that. Drinking lots of orange juice, staying warm and taking Sudafed :-/
No, it's not swine flu :P
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
6:41PMA lot of the people on my flist seem to be having a horrible day, and since I am also in the most desolate of moods right now (and melodramatic, apparently), I want to wrap you all up in a big hug and make everything feel better.
If you're feeling awful right now, I'm sorry.
Monday, May 18, 2009
12:13PMPhone is definitely lost to me, I'd say, as it's not at the bus depot. The lady on the phone was really nice and told me to try calling back tomorrow, but since the phone's been turned off since Saturday night I think it's fair to say somebody found it and took it for themselves. At least I can take a bitter satisfaction from the knowledge that it won't do them any good; I've had both the sim card and the phone serial number blocked, so it's now a useless piece of junk to anyone but me. That doesn't mean I'm going to get it back, though.
How do you keep from losing your mobile phones, people? How do you make sure you're not constantly leaving them in strange places? Because I seriously cannot seem to get the hang of that. Perhaps I just don't deserve expensive personal electronics, since I can't seem to look after them properly.
Perhaps the purple Motorolla RAZR is just cursed for me and I should try a different phone next time. Seriously, my time with each of the three examples of that phone I have had has been record breakingly short (which is sad, because I really liked that phone). The replacement will be coming out of my IV money since my mother is, understandably, sick of replacing my phones and the one I just lost is still under contract. So it'll have to be cheaper than a RAZR anyway. Gonna check out Ebay this afternoon.
Oh, and due to lack of phone, I slept through my driving lesson this morning. AWESOME.
crappy
