Lightning Storms in My Mind

2009-05-06T01:39:00.000-07:00

on a merry go round at sunset. tehehe - Southport, park near Oliva & Jevon's

happy shiny people having fun - Kelly & I @ East

Us w/Spike at East for his birthday.

I thought this was too cute not to take a photo - women's bathroom sign at Dreamworld. The men's had a similar one. They look like Lego people!

Night golfing w/Wally, Bagsy & Dani - Emerald Golf Course. I don't recommend it.

As I eat a slice of Swiss and sit amongst a few lit candles, i ponder over the past few weeks. they have mostly been filled with hours spent at work, which isn't worth mentioning, except for the fact that they contrast what other events i have been a part of, such as the above pictured moments of socializing, as well projects for my own amusement & information.

so here's the rundown:

-I found out that Bond won't offer me a discount on classes (for TESOL certification), so either I fight with them over that, or start over the search for an affordable program.

-I researched what exactly Medicare covers as part of dental oral/maxillofacial work (i'm going to have to speak with a person. my research was inconclusive).

-I'm not holding my breath for that yd job, nor do I particularly care about whether or not it happens. I'm thinking it won't. oh well.

-Tristan and I may be moving to an apt that will hopefully be half the rent that we pay now, in the near future, in order to save money.

-I've been reading a lot of Augusten Burroughs lately (author of Running with Scissors), and he inspires me to 'want' to write a memoir. No way I'm going to write anything now. I haven't lived long enough to have nearly as many interesting adventures, trials, & tribulations as that guy has had.

-I bought a new addition to the fishbowl. His name is Porky & he's a snail. hehe. he's fascinating in a disgusting way. I want to get a freshwater mussell for the bowl as well, since they are natural filtration systems for habitats that are unfiltered (aka my fishbowl). Hopefully that will complete the ecological system for the bowl. I have two androgynous goldfish (Eva & Poopy), a thriving oxygen plant, Porky that cleans the bowl of algae, then when I get a mussel it will filter, then maybe from there I'll get another fish. perhaps guppies. or not. the bowl might be a little small for all of those organisms?!

-I've finally started my masquerade project `~8oD

That's it for now. Ciao!

resident as of 14.4.09

2009-04-22T04:27:00.000-07:00

I haven't written in awhile, I must be busy with life now or something. Ok, so here's a short rundown of what's happened in the last few weeks:

-Daniel came and visited, we went to Sydney, ate pigeon, toured the Opera House, and were total super American tourists with Aunt Becky & Uncle Bill Haggard.

-the next day after he left, I went and lodged my application for the de facto visa 820/801. After months and months of paperwork, medical exams, money, police clearances, paperwork (you get the idea), we sat in front of a case officer for about one hour. he looked at his computer screen and poured over our documents for the majority of that hour, asked us a couple of random questions (such as tristan's police record), and then printed the visa into my passport, neatly folded up a letter, handed it to me, said he would mail one off to my agent, said we were done here, and only after THEN did he say I got the visa!

all this pent up anxiety and 'big moment'-ness, for...THAT?!

so anyway, got home, didn't know what to do so I think I did the dishes. Went to the gym. Got congratulated by the neighbors. Informed my virtual community of people.

-next day: we went to Dreamworld with tristan's second cousins (?) Aaron (8) and Mitchell (15). Dreamworld is a theme park, so Aaron was too scared to go on the big mean looking roller coasters, and there was no talking him into going on them..seems like a waste of money, but, everyone was 8 once, so whatever.

-then I finally got MEDICARE!! This is seriously a BIG DEAL! In Australia, EVERYONE no matter your race, gender, age, or any of those other profiling-type of categories, qualifies for government-subsidised health care. That is, you must at least be a resident. AND, I'm finally a resident! Where I consistently fell through the cracks in the American health care system, I'm actually accounted for, here. Where I (meaning, my Dad mostly) had to pay astronomical health insurance premiums, deductibles and co-pays just to maintain 'having health insurance', not even really USING it, in the States, I see a doctor for free, now. I can get physical exams for free. preventative check-ups, free. prescription medication? discounted. Eye exam? free. Dental surgery? That's one to research. Dental isn't covered under Medicare BUT some surgeries performed by dentists ARE, so it leaves me to wonder what exactly that means. When I was forced to hold off on certain procedures due to the fat $$$, I might just be able to do them, here.

-I went back to work! Gosh it feels good to be earning a living again. I dont ever want to be a domestic housewife!! (unless babies are involved. obviously I can't speak for them, now) Back at Bond as they kept a position open for me, so I've been working every day since Saturday. Not incredibly long hours, but still. It will mean a paycheck. My boss wants me in the lunch restaurant, so that will mean stable hours, and then banquet stuff as they come. Possibly the cerum cafe, but we'll see how that goes. That one is new to me.

-THEN, there is a slight chance at working a second job at a men's clothing store called 'yd.' let's not jinx it, but it's not something I've pursued at all. My downstairs neighbor, Spike is the newest addition to Tristan and mine's list of 'people we know', and he's a valuable one at that, because a)he is a promotional manager at the local, 'hottest' club in Broadbeach. He set Tristan up with a VIP membership, so I'm pretty sure we're going to utilise that this weekend ;o) He also told me of this job opportunity at yd, and would put in a word for me. I checked out the store, it's like the other upscale men's clothing stores in Pac Fair. It may be retail, but man, men's clothing is the cushiest you can get when it comes to retail! So HE is going to drop of my CV tomorrow (or, I'm dropping it off with him tonight as per his request).
Obviously a second job won't bode well with my Bond boss Susan, but here's another thing about retail in Australia: all places shut at 5:30pm, weekends included in that. The exception is Thursday. Late night shopping is nation-wide on Thursday, and, that's about it. Aussies love their time away from work. Bad for customers, great for shopkeepers. hehe.

Suddenly retail doesn't seem as horrific as I remember it....

in any case it would just be a PT job to keep things interesting, get to wear cute outfits, etc. I'm not holding my breath, though.

Actually I think Tristan is more excited about this prospect more than me, because it means HE could get discounts on clothes.

-the most recent 'thing': I got superspinodus tendinitus in my left shoulder!! I think I spelled that right. The Dr's handwriting really resembles a different alphabet system. Arabic, perhaps? Anyway, after working heaps from being unemployed, and especially carrying RIDICULOUSLY heavy special plates on tuesday (everyone involved felt the weight of these plates. they were like ceramic tiles x3, each. and they were square so that description is pretty much accurate). Easy 2x heavier than the typical plates. Anyway, methinks that was the icing on the cake that made my heavy lifting arm/shoulder go on strike. So, I'm on light duties for a week and can't lift anything with the left arm! My boss is also going to put a motion in to get rid of those plates. Seriously, the only thing they're good for is to look quirky and modern on the table when you're eating food off of them! They have no lip, so if you play with your food too much, it will all go on the table or your lap. They can't even stack properly.

who knew I'd end up knowing so much about the ergonomics of dinnerware? There are a few things one must take into account when designing plates, so anyone interested in designing that crap MUST TAKE THE OPINION OF THE SERVER INTO ACCOUNT. lol. work compo!!

ok. I should have signed off long ago. Even I won't go back and read this. Cheerio!

Squab.

2009-04-11T01:51:00.000-07:00

gotta keep this short as we have an early morning. daniel and i are now in sydney! after a 12-hour train trip from brisbane to sydney. whew. that REALLY shows you how far away brisbane/gold coast is from sydney...the area in between that we could see in the daylight was gorgeous though! so green and lush, and ISOLATED! there were scattered houses here and there, and all i could think about was how rural these people were living. we only saw a couple crops, too, so it wasn't very agricultural. we saw some cows but only a handful in each paddock area, so, the land is mostly just wild. i just can't get over it!

anyway, so bro and i are in sydney now with our aunt becky and uncle bill. laurel and jim are in their holiday house for the weekend, so we're gonna be touring around with becky & bill cuz they just lost their key to the apt, so only I hold the key! and only I hold an australian mobile...oh the power! lol.

We ate at the Golden Harbour restaurant in Chinatown, Sydney. AND we had..*drum roll*..PIGEON! who would have thought?! but, yes, pigeon. it was wierd. very bony. dark meat. strange flavour. becky said it tasted like a)liver, or b)gizzard. gross either way. Daniel nibbled on the neck, head, beak, then saw what the bird's last meal was and put that morsel down. lol. i was over it well before then! lol. uncle bill wanted hungry jack's (aka burger king) but was a trooper and tried the pigeon was well!

Community Supported Agriculture

2009-04-04T23:33:00.000-07:00

Seriously, produce coming straight from the farm is SO much better than from the grocery store. I was lucky enough to be able to eat to my heart's content of fresh corn on the cob, nectarines, peaches, tomatoes, etc etc when i was young. ah, the thought makes my mouth water! My G'ma lives out in the farmland, and my uncle gets it all, like, on the day it was picked, for anyone to enjoy.

You wouldn't believe how much of a difference store-bought corn on the cob is from fresh farm picked-that-day corn. Chemical reactions that occur shortly after the cob is harvested change the flavour of the corn. If you are harvesting sweet corn, the sugar will quickly convert to starch, and starchy flavour just isn't the same when you're nibbling it with a smattering of melted butter and/or salt & pepper. oh, yum. Shame I don't have access to that experience, anymore, living some 3,000 miles away from my grandma's farm.

Which, brings me to my next point. I've been reading a book Daniel brought with him, entitled "The Newman's Own Organics Guide to the Good Life". So far the book is readable, interesting, but not chock-full of new information (I think it's me, though), but it does have a short segment on CSAs and local farmer's markets and the many benefits for shopping at them. Your local farmer's market is just that: the food is grown locally. As well all know, there are environmental, social, and economic benefits to eating food from local sources, but think about the health benefits as well! The food is FRESH! the mangoes or peaches or whatever aren't picked unripe and then stored in coldrooms for who knows how long until they are shipped across country to your suburb. They are grown til ripe and picked within a few days of when you see it.

Any other way than harvesting when the produce is ripe is just not natural.

I found a CSA website for the USA. Unfortunately I must keep searching for Australian CSAs. In the meantime, there is a farmer's market on the weekends, but they aren't necessarily organic. This website called Local Harvest also lists organic restaurants, grocery/co-ops, etc. You can even buy food online and have it mailed to you (albeit you're taking part in globalization by having your order shipped across country, but you CAN search for items that are close-ish to you).

Anyway, I think it's a great idea, and wish I had the money, motivation (to cook more daring dishes), and availability here to take part in a CSA. Who knows, maybe they're popular here and I have yet to tap into the local website resources. Besides, Australian tomatoes taste better than American ones. Hey, my brother said it!

It's almost dinner-time, and I have worked my stomach in a real mess of hunger, now!

grr..that was disappointing

2009-04-02T02:07:00.000-07:00

Okay, so, I got all excited when I learned exactly about Twitter, only to find out that it pointless for me to use it. My brother told me how it works, and I thought, 'hey, that is a great & free way to keep in touch with people all over the world!'. So I started up an account this evening, only to find out that my mobile phone service provider STILL won't support the text messaging component of Twitter (pretty much the only component..) because I would be sending an SMS to an international number, not an australian one. I'm basically back to square one. I can't send int'l text messages on my phone plan. Maybe one of these days I'll try to improve that condition. Yeah, one of these days...

...so the weather is really crappy now, and it looks like it's going to be rainy pretty much the rest of the time Daniel is here in QLD, soooo...I'm not really sure what to do at this point. It seems that Tristan is working more than I originally thought, so we're more limited (car) than I previously thought as well. so, yeah. Constant rain & wind definitely put a damper on the touristy activities! At least we got to go to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary yesterday. That was fun. Daniel said it was the best zoo type of place he had ever been. Currumbin isn't a 'zoo', per se. There are only Australian animals there, which is fine. All the proceeds go towards building a wildlife animal hospital. So if anyone hits a roo or something, they can take the kangaroo to this hospital and they'll nurse it back to health, that sort of thing.

We participated in the rainbow lorikeet feeding. THAT was an experience. I had so many birds hangin off me at any one point. Hundreds of birds were in the vicinity, their chirping was nearly deafening! They're beautiful birds, though, hence being named 'rainbow' lorikeets. Gonna try to wrangle up a photo...

Tristan, being Tristan...

Daniel being scared of the voracious Australian wildlife..

I'm nearly in hysterics because they were all over me, in my hair, poking down the front of my shirt, clawing up my forearms...it was definitely an experience!

okay..chinese food coma now. peace out.

going to be a tour guide

2009-03-30T02:16:00.000-07:00

striking a victoria beckham/zoolander pose, at the coffee club in broadbeach.

it's gonna be a fun two weeks.

missing that perfect shade of crayola crayon

2009-03-22T02:10:00.000-07:00

I need more vibrancy in my life. more color. I dont even know where to begin. I keep self-editing, and thus backspace on anything before it even comes out of my fingers onto the screen.

interesting visual: electrical currents running through fingers that are typing on a keyboard.

I'm feeling pretty depressed right now, and I guess it's partially to do with this book I'm reading, which I mentioned in the last post. It's about a gay recovering alcoholic trying to hold it together in Manhattan while everything around him seems to be testing his limits. This book certainly is not as funny as his first one, Running With Scissors! Which intrigued me into reading more Augusten Burroughs. Anyway, I don't relate to this character in the slightest, haha, it was more of his writing style that makes me feel introspective on my own writing. I'd like to write a memoir down the road, after I've lived more years, but shouldn't I be keeping journals or something, to help embellish the memories when they begin to slip away? I've never been very consistent with that.

hm.

I wanted to go to this Brazilian Carnivale thing tonight, because we had free tickets to go to (entry + dinner), but it looks like it's not going to happen. waking Tristan up from couch naps post-work puts him in a foul mood that makes it seem like he snaps & attacks me for anything. whatever. he's back asleep now, so I guess I have to internalize my bitching.

Ok, don't let him put me in a foul mood.

It seems when this sort of tension arises, I question why I am here. It's getting pretty lame, waiting for this visa thing, because I am stuck in limbo where I can't work, I am pretty limited on what I can do, due to lack of money, so it just seems like I'm wasting life. I need to be reminded of a few good reasons of why I'm here. But, even if I were to go back to California, what would be for me there? The grass over there appears a lot greener when it's visible from the other side of an ocean. Up close, it might be just as dry and burnt up as the grass that's currently under my feet.

Grass. Green. Color. that's it. back to my original post. So, I've been working on these three panels, which I'm trying to finish before my brother comes to visit (!!!) in a week's time, but, I have yet to decide what color to do the sky, the lightning, and the raindrops.

As you can see, they are highly colorful. I've been really into that over the past couple of years. Bright, swirling colors and thick outlines. I thought to do lightning because the Gold Coast hosts some pretty spectacular lightning shows. That, with my need for intense colors, has resulted in a landscape that consists of of a purple cityscape, green thunderclouds, and a forest that could very well be in fire. yeesh. it's really coming together. hehe. Now, what to do for the lightning?

This one is still my favorite, and probably always will be. The thing I find so fascinating - and part of what keeps me painting in this style - is how different people percieve it when they see it for the first time. Everyone has their own interpretation of it, and I love to hear how each person's mind processes what they see, and how they decide to make sense of it. 2007.

This swirly pink one was what first turned me on to painting in bold colors. Amanda asked me to do something with pink & brown circa 2007, anything I wanted, for her to decorate an apartment with. I also did the one below for her, so she could give as a gift to her now-husband.

This one was fun because I added other medium, such as candle wax, glitter, little metallic blue beeds, the photos, and textured paper. also 2007

I ended up doing this one for Amanda upon her request, as well, though i'm not sure what ever happened to this one, I think in 2007?. It's a beach scene made up of related color/beach/surf/environment/writing magazine clippings & other papers. I realize now, looking back on it, that's it's too much. You can barely make out the palm tree from the sky. My favorite was the surfer girl with her fire red hair. Hey, looking back on my hobby is making me feel better:)

This is what Ashley wanted for Christmas in 2007..which..I gave to her in February 2008, or close to that time. Actually I hope it made it to her, I think I left it with Jusel. hah. *gulp*

yes...this one. a bit of a peculiar one. made in 2006. I made it as a gift for a now-ex-boyfriend. the peculiar thing about it is...I recall consciously thinking that we may break up, yet I was fine with putting all this effort into making a painting for him. Like in some sick way it would continue to remind him of me. I guess that makes me a bad person. There is no real point, or subject, of it. The only interesting thing is that it's multi-dimensional, but only if you really look at it. I think he's said it's his favorite painting. yep. I'm a bad person.

I only painted this one because I was bored in the summer of 2007 and I wanted to do something on a massive canvas. I dont know it's exact dimensions, but let's say it's..about the height & width of a loveseat, thereabouts. I left it with my last roommate prior to moving to Aus. I didn't love it enough to leave it with family or friends. sorry redhead.

yum, the neighbors just brought me some homemade bruschetta. How cool is that?

Oh, another goodie. I don't know where it is, though. I wonder if I left it to my parents? This one got on the cover of the Penumbra magazine at my university in CA in 2007. It had been a forever-long project that I finally got the motivation to finish the weekend before the art submissions for the magazine. It started as a doodle from a sociology class I had when studying In Aus, then progressed into a collage of random aussie paperwork, maps, magazine clippings, and a sci-fi calendar. One of the Penumbra staff said something about it embodying the right kind of juxtaposition of sensuality, industrialism, and culture, and therefore it was just the right fit for the cover, also because we were quickly running into our deadline for the cover art and the artist that was meant to draw something up totally flopped.

I think the staff member just loved using the word 'juxtaposition', and that word impressed the other staff members enough to agree to use it. haha. whatever. it's on the cover of a university literary magazine.

Yes, it's the word of the day. Juxtaposition, juxtaposition, juxtaposition.

Cheerio.

Got my Iced Coffee fix

2009-03-19T22:46:00.000-07:00

I bought a new book today, by Augusten Burroughs, called Dry. Hope it's good. Books are hard to come by in this country, hah. I found a used book exchange type shop nearby my apartment, and amazingly enough Burroughs was in there. Most of the books there are sci-fi. Don't get me wrong, sci-fi is good and all, but most of those books are a dime-a-dozen. There's nothing special about them. I did find some Amy Tan books there, which is cool as she's written some good ones.
My point about this bookstore, however, is the concept for it. I've never encountered any physical shops like it in California. Apparently they're common here. The bookshop sells new & used books at a fraction of the (incredibly overpriced) Australian retail price of the books, so that's a plus. You can sell the books you buy from there BACK to them and get 1/2 of what you paid, back. You can also sell them any other book you want to them, at whatever their going rate for the book is (and that's completely at the mercy of the shopowner...so..most of my books sold for 2 or 3 bucks. That's not to say my books were crappy, because they weren't! lol), and either use that credit to buy more books, or get cash back.
First of all, I think the idea is good because there is no solid online book buying/selling source here (such as Half.com in the US). Sure there is Ebay, but supply is very limited, I guess because there simply isn't a demand, which is a shame. So, to be able to buy a book for cheap is great, because big chain retailers charge you an arm and a leg for a stupid book! Where I would have paid $8 for something in the US, they charge $25 easy. Highway robbery!
Secondly, there really is no reason to buy new books, unless you're a germaphobe, I guess. Buying new books perpetuates the cutting down of trees for paper issue. Aside from the binding being a bit cracked, there is seriously no harm in reading a used book. It makes no difference to the consumer. The printed words will have the same impact on it's reader the first, second, third, etc time.
If I can do my part by boycotting 'new' manufactured products and, rather buying 'used' books, I will. Besides, it's so much cheaper. I'm able to get those US-like prices I was spoiled on on, now.

In the meantime, I am on the hunt for Wicked (or others) by Gregory Maguire, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon, anything by David Sedaris, and a lot more that escape my memory at the moment. I have yet to find these books in the $8-10 mark.

I'm sitting at a cafe with my laptop, about to change for the gym (that's upstairs), and this iced coffee has gone right through me...so time to go. Big workout day. elliptical for about 20 minutes, abs for about 1/2 hour, then SPIN class for 45 minutes. That's what I have to look forward to.

Cheerio!

Malarkey, Jack, Malarkey!

2009-03-16T19:03:00.000-07:00

Darn it, the washing machine buzzer juuuust went off. Nevermind, the clothesline can wait.

I'm so sore in all kinds of awkward spots today, because I went to a boxing circuit class with a mate last night. For the past few weeks Tris and I have been motivated to hit the gym (me, especially, I guess it's what you 'do' when you're unemployed..lol) so feelin pretty good. Actually, feeling BAD, due to soreness, but it's good, ya know? One of the trainers planted a thought in my head last week about doing a marathon in July (for those reading that are in the Northern Hemisphere, July is in winter). I've never even considered it before, and I think that's what interests me the most, because I've never attempted to push my physical limits that much. It's 20 km, which is 12 miles. 12 miles doesn't sound that far?? I remember kids in grade school running the mile in under 5 minutes. I dont know, though, because I tend to get bored of the treadmill, and I find excuses for running outside. Running is certainly not my strong point, in my athletic endeavors. But maybe that's the intrigue of this challenge? I don't know. Runners, help me out. What can you tell me about marathons/12 miles/running in general/blah?

Awhile back I had a random light bulb moment regarding creating sustainable systems. And yes, it's regarding the gym (I sense a theme?). A sustainably developed gym, for example, could use the electricity it needs by generating it from the many many people that run on it's treadmills, spin on it's bikes, ellipse (? lol) on it's ellipticals, because those machines could generate more of a constant flow of electricity than any other machine. Remember seeing in a science museum, as a kid, the skeleton on the bicycle? You crank a lever to get the body to move, and as the wheels of the bike spin, it generates electricity (by use of other machinery which the inner workings of ellude my knowledge).
Now, this process only covers the electricity for the gym. As for the construction of the building, I got nothing...yet. But, generating it's own electricity rather than sucking off the power grid is part of the core value of sustainable development. As all battery-charging systems do, what electricity is generated that isn't used is stored for later use, or it could be sold back into the power grid. It's the same concept for solar panels on homes.

Hmm. ok. so that's that. Word of the day (and it's not sustainable! I provided the link..I'm quite link-happy on this blog, hehe): Malarkey . I listed UrbanDictionary.com for that one so...don't get offended. It's definition was more funny than plan ol' dictionary.com. hehe.

If you are as such an avid fan of 30 Rock that I am, you'll get the reference. hehe.

I guess I better tend to that laundry.

Weee!

2009-03-15T21:03:00.001-07:00

I wonder if I'll keep this blog going long-term. As a tween of the 90's and young adult of the 2000's, I've held domain to an array of virtual journals, starting with Easyjournal, then Livejournal, let's not forget Myspace & Facebook (the latter of which I remain enamoured with in the same gluttonous fashion as the rest of the world), a communal blog with a group of girlfriends because we live in different corners of the earth - and the internet is cheaper than airfare to catch up on goss - and now, my very own blog that no one will read.

Blog is a goofy sounding word. On dictionary.com blog is the shortened version of web log. I think I knew that already.

OoO! I think I'll have a word of the day in this blog. I fancy learning, so stay in school, kids!

Here is todays word: etymology. Can you guess why I chose that word? blerg.

I already have a few topics that I want to address, but writing more than one blog a day will a)deem me as being overly zealous of blogging within the first 24 hours, and b)use up the rest of my day when I could be doing more productive things (and mom and dad taught me to be)...so..I guess I'll go cook & clean or something.

PS-yes, that is me staring up in awe at Sue the T.Rex visiting the Auckland Museum, New Zealand. My wannabe paleontologist inner child refuses to be repressed. Raowr!