I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognised wiser than oneself. 
- Marlene Dietrich (1901 - 1992)

Hello again folks!

Things:

- Jess is now in hospital =( having offending body parts yanked out of her.  Tonsils, if you were wondering.  Get well soon Jess, and don't hemorrhage or anything.

- I read Death of a Salesman this morning.  Man, if there were every a play to get you un-motivated to go to work on a Monday morning.  Blah.  Well written play though, I'd like to see it on the stage if ever anyone performs it in Sydney.

- What do people make of this Mugabe situation?  Yes, it sucks, and yes, he's a colossal arsehead, but what can be done about it?  Is it going to be treated like Iraq - international powers charging in to decapitate the dictatorship, then watch the country crumble into civil war?  Would the people of Zimbabwe be better or worse off with foreign intervention?

- June 30.  Arrgggh.  Tax time.

- I spent too much money this weekend on stuff I shouldn't have bought, like Heroes Season 1.  But at least I have plenty of TV shows to watch while I worry about my bank balance *bad attitude*.

- It's the last lesson of Beginner's Italian tonight!  SAD!  I have no idea if the next level is even going to run, since no one in my class is even remotely interested, and I don't know about the other class.  It also means farewelling Giovanni, my wonderful wonderful teacher.  More sad.  I hope the other teacher is just as good (although there's no way she could be near as fun).

- Had adventures on the weekend with Mum's friend Paul, who bought a desk in a flat pack that came with incomprehensible instructions.  It took us roughly an hour and a half to put the damn thing together, and it's ... crap.  It looks lousy.  If I ever buy another desk, I'm buying something that comes in one piece.  I hope Paul didn't pay too much for it.

- Mmm sushi.

First things first.  I got a new job!  Go me.  It's essentially the same stuff I'm doing now (office nonsense) except:
- Shorter hours
- Annual leave (which temps aren't normally entitled to)
- Sick leave (which temps also aren't normally entitled to)
- Flexitime*
- More pay

*Flexitime means the workday is 7 hours long, and any hours your work past that gets "banked".  Once you've banked up enough hours, you can take a day off, or a half day, or a week.  All paid.

You totally can't ask for better than that [without being laughed at].

Other stuff!
Browsing Amazon.com and came across this short paragraph on the page for The Poetic Edda, which I found rather amusing out of context:

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
giant women, mythological poems, wise lady

Hah.

More other stuff!

Phoenix Wright is a great game.

Howdy y'all.  What's new you say?

- Increasingly busy!  As if I wasn't doing enough with 3 classes a week, I'm now taking driving lessons too.  I'm not as sucky as I was last time.  Jeepers lessons are expensive though.

- Gardening class is about to finish, and level 2 doesn't start till June.

- I'm in the middle of 3 different books, none of which I feel particularly driven to continue.

- Have been trying to study history (in general and all over the place) and am getting annoyed with the general subject because nothing seems to be concrete anywhere before the second millennium.  As soon as I think I know something someone comes along and half-proves something else.  Frustrating.

- Dirty Sexy Money is totally great.

- Applied for a new job with higher pay and better people and better hours and paid leave and flexitime.  Pray to god/s of your choice for an interview for me please.

- I got up at 5am to run today and actually enjoyed it, I think I will make a daily habit of it.  I'm dead tired but only because I stayed up late last night, and it's really night running while all the lights are off and stars are out.

- That's all for now.

I just finished Catcher in the Rye, and I'm not sure what to say apart from "I don't get it".  I honestly don't understand what's so brilliant about it.  It's written in a way that kept me reading, sort of, and it's easy enough to understand the character in most respects, but there doesn't seem to be any point.  He's a lazy, cynical, bitching, petulant loser at the start, and he's a lazy, cynical, bitching, petulant loser at the end.  He learns nothing.  he acheives nothing.  He doesn't rise anywhere or fall anywhere.  There's no complication, no climax.  He's *warned* that he's going to fall, then the book ends before the event/s the story has seemingly been building up to (either confronting his parents, or escaping out west).  I get that he slowly approaches some sort of nervous breakdown, but seriously, it culminates in "whoops I fell down.  Oh well, off to the zoo."  Then he heaps off to another school to (apparently) do the whole thing again.

Maybe I'm missing something, whenever someone bitches about a popular classic piece, someone else inevitably says "you just don't get it, it's DEEP" or something along the lines, but honestly I just don't understand why everyone raves about this book.  I understand why it was huge in it's day, I imagine reading this in the 50's would feel pretty scandalous, but this point is now null.  It's tame now.  Maybe it stands out because it depicts a teenage attitude so accurately, but to me it just sounds like any teenager talking about nothing in particular.  Which I suppose is what the author was trying to do.  But if I feel like I'm listening to a lazy, cynical, bitching, petulant loser talk, I'm going to feel like I want to tell this loser to shut the hell up, get his shit together, and maybe smack him.

Then I realise I can't smack the book with much effect.

Maybe the book as trying to hilight some social truths, about ignoring and alientaing people who would be an inconvenience, or about being "phony" for your own gain, and it could be that these would-be-poignant points are now so common and widely accepted in society that they didn't strike me at all.  The book's been called depressing, probably for that reason, but I didn't get that at all.

So the book was entertaining enough, but the anticlimax and the lack of character growth made reading it just felt like a waste of time to me.

Treror (or anyone else), now would be a good time to share with me why this book is so astounding, so I don't feel like I just wasted a day's reading.  I'm definitely not saying "It sucked, I hated it", I'm just saying I don't see why it's called "brilliant".

On the other hand, I also finished The Secret Garden, which I enjoyed immensely, but this may be due to my love for gardens and my liking for children as protagonists.  Good story, anyway.

It's finally stopped raining in Sydney!  Gosh.  It's been raining solid here for more than a week, and I just went outside and there's a lovely blue sky.  Awesome.  The weatherman still says rain for the next 4 days at least, but HOW CAN THAT BE?  With such loveliness outside?  I choose to be blindly optimistic.  Yay sunshine.

I just start Catcher In the Rye, I know nothing about it except that it's something of an "angst bible" as well as a classic.  Not sure what to say about it so far.  Anyone else read it?

EDIT:  I just spent an hour in the big city department store which is the main rival to the one I work in, doing covert reconnaissance work at the request of my boss.  Work just got a little bit cooler =D  I'M A SPY.

EDIT EDIT:  Ok it just started raining again.  Never mind -_-

ELLY IS EXCITED.  This weekend I start a gardening course (a billion miles away from my house, but really, how many gardening courses can you find) and then on Monday I start Italian classes.  The Italian is EXPENSIVE.  So really that first sentence should say ELLY IS EXCITED AND BROKE.

I need stuff to do this weekend.  If anyone in Sydney reads this, let's hang out.  If anyone outside Sydney reads this, fly to Sydney and let's hang out.

I just finished reading The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski, part of the series that the game The Witcher is based on, and GOSH it was awesome.  Written very well.  A bit unclear in places but I read it in a kind of disjointed way so I think it'd make more sense if I a) read it again, b) had better concentration.  To anyone who's played the game, yes, it's just as vulgar in places and there's quite a bit of sex and boobies.  Or at least, more than in most fantasy books.  Makes the actual "last wish" in the book very fitting.

 A meme under the cut, to further hilight my boredom at work.

This has been the most hectic workday in a looooong time.  Just finished the worst of it, and I can go home for the weekend in one hour.  good thing too, because I'm struggling with the urge to blow things up or punch things, both of which i will be able to do at home.

Although the blowing-up will be limited to TF2 or something similar.  I think it's time I gave the Demoman a workout.

Still waiting for my brain to return to its normal wavey-level.  Right now it feels like a hamster in a wheel, if that hamster were really really panicked and had been going for about 6 hours so far.

Rosehip tea is interestingly tasty.  Reminds me of one time when I ate a flower.

I'm reading The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy.  Pretty good so far (halfway through).

KRISTY IS BACK FROM SOME STUPID STATE THAT DOESN'T HAVE HER COMPUTER IN IT.  This is a good thing.

Because I told Jess I would, here's a list of some words that (I think) Shakespeare made up.  Supposedly.

accused
addiction
amazement
arouse
assassination
bedroom
besmirch
birthplace
bloodstained
bump
champion
circumstantial
cold-blooded
compromise
courtship
countless
critic
dauntless
dawn
deafening
discontent
dishearten
drugged
dwindle
equivocal
elbow
excitement
exposure
eyeball
fashionable
flawed
generous
gossip
impede
impartial
invulnerable
jaded
lonely
luggage
lustrous
majestic
mimic
moonbeam
negotiate
obscene
radiance
rant
secure
submerge
summit
swagger
torture
tranquil
undress
unreal
varied
worthless

There's hundreds/thousands more besides that,  But really, you can't just go around making up works and expect people to get it, most of the words he made up are variations on ones that were already there, e.g. he made nouns into verbs, verbs into adjectives, etc etc.

I'm pretty much the only one at work today.  I got here a bit late, and it was really strange because I was still the first one here.  Everyone is at some conference or event or something, so it's just me and another girl, Mel.  Which is fine by me, because pretty much everyone here is ... difficult ... to work with, except Mel, who is very nice, and looks out for me.  She gets stressed a lot but only because everyone else makes problems for her.  Today she's sharing her classical and jazz music with me, so thumbs up.  Hooray for there being someone cool at this place =D

I have been sick recently, much horrible-stomach feeling and some staying-up-all-night-being-sick and even a day off work (which Tom wisely convinced me to take).  Luckily I now seem to be feeling a lot better, so hooray again.

I'm going to a birthday party tomorrow night at Luna Park, which is different.  I'm fairly horribly nervous, there'll be some people going that I haven't see in a long time, people that I'd much rather leave in the past, but the birthday boy is one of my favourite friends so I don't feel like I can ditch his birthday on account of my social crap.  Given that I deserve anything I may cop from said people, but hey, I'd still rather not. *crosses fingers*

I've been finding a bunch of stuff that I'd lost recently (like a really nice silver owl pendant), but I STILL HAVEN'T FOUND MY MISSING BOOK.  This is MOST CONCERNING.

I bought Team Fortress 2 last night, man that is one fun game.  I'm having some fun with it, especially the Pyro cos it's very much RUN-SCREAM-BURN-BURN-RUN and also because it's the only class I've figured out how to play so far.  I feel like a collosal noob, but I guess I'm supposed to, since I've never really played the game before.  I really wish there was a training mode or something, so I could get the hang of it faster.  Oh well, this just means I'll have to play it a lot more often.  I'm sure everyone on the servers are used to morons runing around who have no idea what they're doing.  At this point I'm just picking a random nearly-full server and joining in.

Any tips?

Oooh, and by the end of today I'll have a new phone.  I don't remember if I said so or not, but my phone was stolen 2 or 3 weeks ago, and I've been enjoying the quiet rather a lot.  I'm actually most upset that I've lost all the photos that were on there.  Anyway as much as I'm liking being disconnected that little bit, it's getting tricky for some people to reach me, so I figure that's enough and it's time I got myself a new one.  Sigh.

I'm about halfway through The Amber Spyglass, too, the last (and by far longest) book in Philip Pullman's His Dark materials series.  Damn this is good!  Need more time to read this, too.

In an awesome mood because I have so much cool stuff to do, like read the aforementioned book and play the aforementioned game (along with MANY other games I'm in the middle of), and oddly my mood isn't dampened by the fact that I actually HAVE no free time.

Wow, this entry got long.  I'm sure there's more, but right now my stomach is demanding that I introduce it to a particularly smooth looking chocolate I can see from here.

Peace out, yo.

Happy New Thingy, folks.  Hope everyone partied away happily and shared my wonder at just how much money goes into fireworks displays around the world and how that cash could be better spent.

New year's resolutions, anyone?  I've got quite a few, but they're mostly pretty dull so I won't share them here.  A trip to Brisbane may or may not be one of them though.

My shared sympathy for anyone who's back at work already.

HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY, MUM, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT.

My mobile phone was stolen on the weekend, but oddly enough I'm not that bothered.  I'm quite happy not having one.  I'm considering just not replacing it.  Any guesses on how long I'll last without that little chunk of useful in my pocket all the time?

Aaaaaaand I'm back.

Short version:
- Weather went back and forth between sunny beach weather and EPIC THUNDERSTORMS
- Thunderstorms at Terrigal are something to marvel at
- Loads, and loads, AND LOADS or social drama, but luckily my determination to be meekly friendly and positively minded for the week, plus my habit of going to bed early, kept me out of most of it.
- Mel fell down the stairs after drinking far far too much and we all spent about 1.30 - 6 a.m. in the hospital.  I got to ride in an ambulance.  Mel's fine.
- Bought a lovely lovely pashmina/silk wrap that I am wearing now and makes me look like someone's very very classy granny.
- Tom loved his present (Armani watch).  And he also got a giant gingerbread man toy (the character from Shrek).
- DO YOU KNOW THE MUFFIN MAN.

Overall I had a pretty damn good time.  It was fantastic just to get away from Sydney and relax for a few days.  Bought some awesome new books, including one called 50 FACTS THAT SHOULD CHANGE THE WORLD.

And it's got a short chapter on each one, between 4 and 8 pages on how the issue arose and what's being done about it.  Great book, I think just about anyone could take a flick through this and find something that intrigued them.  Very ... activist.  It's a bit unsettling too, one that you put down and go "Maaaaaan, the world is FUCKED."

And it is, too.

Really gotta get off my ass with this Christmas stuff.  ZOMG IT'S SO SOON.

 I'm reading a book called A Short History of the World.  Bit of a misleading name.  I'm only up to the first Sumerians and Sargon I.

Had my first weekend at home this week, haven't done that in quite a while.  Time seems to go quicker at home because I'm not doing anything interesting, just wasting lots of time.  Well, at least I don't spend any money when I'm at home.

Jeepers Christmas is getting close.  So much shopping to do.

My mum refuses to let me set up a proper Christmas tree this year.  She's got a mini one that came pre-decorated that she just put in the corner and plugs in.  Nuts to that.

Wondering about sending out handmade Christmas cards again.  Would anyone actually want one?

I've just had breakfast, but there's a white chocolate Freddo sitting on my desk staring at me, just begging me to bite its head off.  Is 8.30am too early for chocolate?

Also Adam is now GONE, got on a plane yesterday for Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, then New York and Canada.  He will be gone for 6 months and miss my 21st.  Sad Elly.

Hmm.  I bought myself some yellow roses to put on my desk and they died almost instantly.  Maybe a sign I shouldn't buy romantic flowers for myself?  Or are roses just crap? (I've heard they're crap.)

And, and for anyone who cares, I'm now on Facebook.

*shame*

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JESS for Friday.

Also on Friday I saw The Assassination of Jesse James by the Cowardly Robert Ford, a movie roughly as long as its name.  It's very drawn out but not in a way that seems laboured, more in a way that gives every moment lots of detail.  Certainly no part of it is rushed, and you get the full measure of pretty much every character.  Tom expressed his disappointment that the movie was more of a story of Robert Ford than Jesse James, but as I noted, the movie is about the assassination, not the man.  Go see it if you've got 3 hours to spare.

Slowly working my way through Baldur's Gate.  I'd be so screwed if Tom wasn't helping me.  I really just don't have a strategic brain when it comes to these things.

Attended the Mind Body Spirit Festival with Jess yesterday, which is abundant in shiny things.  Very many stalls of gemstone jewellery and things.  Lots of spiritually-enlightened type of people, loads of meditation-for-relaxation stuff, which I dig.  Also man, there are some real nutters out there.

And these automated massage chair things we found are made of win and awesome.

Jess lent me some Doreen Virtue books.  I've read through Realms of the Earth Angels and part of The Lightworker's Way and so far really can't relate to either.  I don't really fit the profile for anything in the books.  Still, they're interesting to read.

A very good weekend indeed.  Now I am sitting at work about to start my Monday, sipping tea and feeling fery fatigued indeed.

Ok, in this book I'm reading, Tully, one of the characters lives in Topeka, Kansas and works in Manhattan.  Within "commuting distance", apparently.

He can't mean Manhattan, New York, can he?  That's over 1700 km away...