Wednesday, July 22

If Time Really Was Physical Money (...I'd be rich right now)


I suppose one bonus of being home is that I've actually had time to draw...
original pencil drawing has been photographed + hue, midtone and contrast very slightly adjusted (digitally)

Tuesday, July 21

Busted Strings


Tickets to Josh Pyke's Variations Tour go on sale tomorrow, and I'm keen keen keen to get my paws on them! I've never seen this fellow live before, and I believe sooner is always better than later.
His Perth show is going to be held at the Fremantle Arts Centre on November 6 (probably exam time for the good majority of uni students), and I imagine that with the booking fee the price will be somewhere between $45-$50 each.
I figure I'll just buy two and see who waves their hands in the air to be my super-dooper company for the evening :)

I've Heard of Blue Monday


...but why do I get to endure a Blue Tuesday?

I'm still sick with this cold/flu like thing, and I'm really keen to just get better!

Cold n' flu tablets are my best friend at the moment, seeing as they seem to keep me functioning to some degree.

Also enjoying heading out to the cinemas a bit lately, and apparently needing the whole popcorn/chocolate/diet coke experience (hello winter kilos). I've had my dose of magic thanks to finally seeing Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince with the sistie on the weekend, and as for today... well... with too much shame to name the movie, I was inspired to learn the Hoedown Throwdown. Ohyeah, that's right.

Now all I need is some sleep and to see if I'm ready to go back to work tomorrow afternoon - eek!

Monday, July 20

Safe & SOUND


Favourite Bands of All Time

  • Angus and Julia Stone
  • Coldplay
  • Gotye (one-man-band?)
  • Tool
  • Gyroscope
  • Karnivool
  • The Mars Volta
  • MUSE
  • A Perfect Circle

When I think of favourites, I think of bands whose CDs I own; who I've listened to over and over in my adolescence; who I still love now and have never managed to get sick of over so many years. For that reason, a lot of bands I do really like haven't made the list (I might not be so well acquainted with them as the ones listed above). A lot of older bands that I appreciate aren't in that main list either, mostly because I've never spent a lot of time listening to those bands - and can't digest that era so well... Otherwise I'd def be mentioning The Beatles and possibly some other classic bands that were the geniuses behind the genres.

I also failed to mention amazing singer/songwriters, as I wasn't sure if they were meant for this list. I'd have to include Jack Johnson, Josh Pyke and Lior. I'm considering adding Missy Higgins and Lisa Mitchell to that list as well.

There's always a little self-revelation that comes from writing these lists, which is what makes me love writing them. Today's lesson: I MUST EXPAND MY MUSIC KNOWLEDGE. I feel terrible to not have a better idea about the music of past eras. Sure, I've heard a good deal of songs thanks to dad, but I've never really sat with them and made time to really get to listen to them. There's a difference between hearing and listening for me. Unfortunately I need to get hold of entire albums to do this, otherwise it just doesn't happen. There's something a little less magic about music downloads on the computer.

Perhaps now's the time to raid a 70s-music CD collection

Friday, July 17

I Am He As You Are Me...

Image by Fairy-Bluebird @deviantart

"If we do not use fully who we are, then who are we?" - SARK

Thursday, July 16

Difficult To See You In This Light




A series of drawings to come... hopefully; Inspired by recent events.

Lend Me Your Ears



JulyPlaylist

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE Little Bribes
BOB EVANS Hand Me Downs
PHOENIX Lisztomania
PETER BJORN & JOHN It Don't Move Me
JOSH PYKE Make You Happy
KARNIVOOL All I Know
JAMIE T Sticks 'N' Stones
YEAH YEAH YEAHS Dull Life
NIRVANA Come As You Are
EMPIRE OF THE SUN Tiger By My Side
FLORENCE & THE MACHINE Dog Days
LADY OF THE SUNSHINE Big Jet Plane
COLDPLAY Yellow
LADYHAWKE Professional Suicide
SARAH BLASKO No Turning Back
LISA MITCHELL Coin Laundry
PORTUGAL THE MAN People Say
PLACEBO For What It's Worth
LYKKE LI Let It Fall
NEW BUFFALO Cheer Me Up Thank You

All of Us Stars

My Most Proud Accomplishments
  • Being one of five students out of so many that was chosen to be able to play guitar for years 6 and 7. Ohyes, I was a proud 10 year old.
  • Teaching myself to draw
  • Being recognised as one of the "star" students in my TAFE course I did a couple of years back! Nerd!
  • Getting into uni without my TER and receiving high grades
  • Surviving 5 weeks of living alone with my self-centred sister - Being homemaker and cleaning up after somebody else!

Writing this list, I realised that most of the occassions I ever felt much sense of pride were associated with academic achievement, which goes to say a bit about my values. Possibly why I value education so much. Much of this pride was felt in younger years though... such as primary school and highschool, and therefore I didn't feel like I had much to add to this list.

So I'm thinking, I need to start doing more things and experiencing the world so that I actually have things to say about myself! One thing I want to do is start completing art works that I can possibly get into exhibitions etc. Unfortunately, since I'm going back to uni in a couple of weeks to study all education units for the semester, I won't be able to think about doing this until the end of the year. But at least it's something to strive for.

The next thing to do is start saving to travel. I think this would be an accomplishment in itself! The hunger to get out of little old Perth is definitely there though, especially now that I have my parents back from Italy - showing me videos of the beautiful Sicilian landscape and all the rellies! I want to climb hills with the cute old folk with no teeth and animated hand movements dammit!

It probably doesn't help the money-making scheme for me to be home sick from work today, but I think that as long as I know what I want, I will somehow make it happen.

Wednesday, July 8

Playing Favourites

nice choice of photo if I say so myself; me&Missy - April '09


I know it's not fair to play favourites amongst the siblings, but I sure am loving my eldest sister Marissa a whole lot right now! This evening she cooked us an amazing Indian curry along with papadums and flat bread (no naan available unfortunately). We probably have Patak's to thank for such a tasty meal, but she did well. To top it off we opened a bottle of wine, and she served me up the best dessert I've had in a long time! Really simple too - Sliced banana, melted Cadbury chocolate + vanilla icecream! So good! Not to mention she cleaned up as well.



How nice it is when family do something special for you ^_^

Where Media Takes My Mind


Favourite TV Shows of All Time
  • Buffy The Vampire Slayer
  • Merlin
  • Scrubs
  • Desperate Housewives
  • Are You Afraid of the Dark?
  • Rugrats
  • DuckTales
  • Captain Planet and the Planeteers
  • Where's Wally?
  • Fullhouse
  • The O.C.
  • Naturally Sadie
  • Masterchef
  • The Babysitter's Club

and I'm just about sure there are a million other favourites that I just can't think of right now... Always the way!

"You're cheering me up and I'm thanking you"

All creatures have their preferred seasons, and I'd happily say that mine most definitely is not winter. Being a December baby, I crave the sun and warmth and clear blue skies. I can never understand how people enjor the dreary greys, clouds, rain, wind or cold! Perhaps it's British blood, or most likely the obscure desire to pile on mounds of clothing until you're cocooned away from the atmosphere. I'm not fond of this, but I understand that it's a necessity in these cooler months. Therefore I've been looking for the perfect coat to barricade the chilling winds. I'd had no such luck in finding something warm, somewhat aesthetically pleasing, aaand retailed at a decent price... Well, not until yesterday.

I consider yesterday to have been one of the best winter days I've encountered so far in 2009. The rain was on pause, and I took the opportunity to head into town and get some things done, including some shop browsing. And of course browsing leads to trying things on, which leads to me pulling out my eftpos card and leaving the shop with a bag in hand. Ahdear. But! The point is... I finally found a pair of jeans in JeansWest which were marked as being $79.99 (AUS), but I asked about the student discount offer which I saw on the counter. So down to $72 they went. How sweet it is to milk a discount! Haha.

Next stop: Lick. Seriously, if you ever visit Fremantle or Cottesloe (Western Australia), check out this little shop. I love just about everything in there, and it should turn out that after yesterday, I love the staff as well. Just before thinking I was going to turn and leave the shop, I spotted just the kind of coat that I'd had in my mind that I was after all this time! Even bigger bonus, it was only $90, so I tried it on straight away and decided it needed to be purchased.

Now if you check out the site, under 'Stockroom' the manager gives updates on new stock that comes in and the goings on in the shop. You might also see that Annette (the manager) might set a little task for customers to do in order to receive a discount on their purchase. I'd checked the website before leaving home and saw that if you said "Would July to me?" (nice pun!), you could receive 20% off. Very generous! So I asked about quoting this at the counter. While the shop assistant wasn't sure of the task, being as lovely as she was, she was kind enough to call Annette about it - who was apparently very happy that I had checked out their website and completed this little task :)

So not only was I happy to receive (what I consider to be) a wonderful little coat for $72, but also to be reminded of some simple values. I sometimes forget that there are good kind-natured people in the world (for some reason...), the kind that can be bothered doing something for you and just treating you kindly. I also forget that little tasks on your own behalf can brighten somebody else's day in some way, which in turn brightens your own day a whole lot! Maybe I forget because I'm usually the checkout chick trying to please the customer, and mostly remember the bitter customers that cut you down, rather than the lovely ones that appreciate your work and conversation.

Who knew that a good shopping trip would be the pick-me-up I've been looking for this past month...

P.S: Photos of the Sunny Girl coat!